Thailand finds bird flu, testing for H5N1

BANGKOK, July 24 (Reuters) A strain of bird flu has been found in chickens in Thailand and it may prove to be the deadly H5N1 virus, senior Agriculture Ministry official Yukol Limlaemthong said today.

''There is a high possibility it is the N1 strain given that the area has had outbreaks before,'' Yukol told Reuters.

Officials said the H5 virus was detected on a farm in the northern province of Pichit, one of seven ''red zone'' provinces where surveillance was stepped up this month, and test results were expected in a few days.

If H5N1 is confirmed, it would be Thailand's first confirmed outbreak of the virus in nearly nine months.

Livestock officials culled all chickens in the affected area and restricted poultry movements within a 10 km radius for at least 30 days.

The H5N1 virus has killed 14 Thais since it first arrived in the country in late 2003. The last death occurred in December 2005.

An 11-year-old girl was in a Pichit hospital on Monday with flu-like symptoms after chickens died on her family farm, a doctor told Reuters. Test results are due tomorrow.

''The chickens started to die on July 8 and she helped her mother bury the dead chickens without any protective gear,'' said Sunee Thirakaroonwongse of the Pichit Provincial Hospital.

Thailand was slow to respond to bird flu when it began ravaging poultry flocks in late 2003, but it now has one of the strongest surveillance systems in the region.

However, recent incidents in which villagers have ignored government warnings and handled dead chickens have raised fears that public vigilance against the disease is waning.

The global human death toll is now at least 132 since the virus re-emerged in east Asia in 2003.

REUTERS LL HS1702