Thailand has first bird flu outbreak in 6 months

BANGKOK, Jan 15 (Reuters) Thailand has suffered its first outbreak of the H5N1 bird flu virus in six months, an Agriculture Ministry official today said after a rash of outbreaks in Vietnam and four human deaths in Indonesia this year.

''The lab results confirmed that some ducks in the northern province of Phitsanulok have been infected with H5N1 bird flu virus,'' Livestock Department chief Pirom Srichan told Reuters.

''We have culled about 1,900 ducks in the area.'' The last outbreak of the virus in poultry in Thailand was late July.

REUTERS SY KP1332