The bird flu outbreak in Asia

The bird flu outbreak in Asia

Asia is grappling with an outbreak of bird flu virus that has killed eight people -- six in Vietnam and two in Thailand. The World Health Organization said the rapid spread of the virus was "historically unprecedented".

The following are facts about the outbreak that has spread to Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Taiwan, Indonesia, Pakistan and Laos.

Some of these countries have confirmed an outbreak of the H5N1 strain of the virus, which can affect humans, while Taiwan said it had only seen a milder strain, H5N2.

Thailand * The virus has killed two young boys in Thailand. * Thailand has the fourth-largest chicken industry in the world, with an annual output of one billion birds and exports worth $1.5 billion. It has destroyed around 10 million chickens so far. * Japan and the European Union, Thailand's two biggest customers, have banned its poultry. * The industry contributes about one percent to the country's GDP. Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has shrugged off the bans, saying GDP growth would be hit by only 0.1 percent and exports by 0.4 percent. * About 81,000 families rely on the industry for a living. The industry employs hundreds of thousands of people on 30,000 poultry farms and in related industries, such as animal feed. * The news has hit the shares of Thai poultry firms, with Charoen Pokphand Foods PCL and GFPT PCL losing heavily. Shares in Thai Airways have dipped on fears the disease could hit tourism.

Vietnam * Six people, including five children, have been confirmed killed by avian flu in Vietnam. Five of the cases were from north Vietnam, one from Ho Chi Minh City in the south. * An estimated 3.5 million chickens have been slaughtered or killed by the virus, which had more than 200 million poultry. The country is not a major exporter of poultry. * The outbreak has affected at least 28 out of the country's 64 provinces and major cities in Vietnam.

South Korea * South Korea has slaughtered almost 2.5 million of the country's 108 million poultry population after finding bird flu in 16 farms since the outbreak was first reported on December 10. * The outbreak has cast a shadow over chicken consumption and sales in South Korea, dragging down chicken meat prices by more than 30 percent to 640 won ($0.54) per kg. The country's two biggest poultry producers, Halim and Maniker, saw their share prices faltering in December. * South Korea's livestock industry makes up around 0.4 percent of the country's gross domestic product, as at the January-September period of 2003.

Japan * One farm in Yamaguchi prefecture, southwest Japan, has been hit by an outbreak of bird flu. All the roughly 34,600 chickens on the farm have either died of bird flu or been slaughtered to prevent the spread of the disease. No chickens elsewhere in Japan have been slaughtered. * Japan has stopped importing poultry from Taiwan, South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia and Indonesia. * The output of Japan's chicken industry in 2001 was 670 billion yen, around 0.1 percent of the country's gross domestic product that year, government figures show. Agriculture as a whole made up around 1.5 percent of Japan's economy in 2001.

Taiwan * Taiwan is fighting the outbreak of a lesser strain of the avian flu, H5N2. It has slaughtered 55,000 chickens since the flu was discovered earlier this month.

Taiwan produced chickens and eggs worth T$37 billion (US$1.1 billion) in 2002, contributing about 0.4 percent to the country's GDP, government figures showed.

Indonesia * Some 4.7 million chickens have died since November. The agriculture ministry said 40 percent were infected with both avian influenza and Newcastle disease. * At least 400 farms spread throughout most of the vast archipelago have been affected by the outbreak. * Indonesia produces about one million tonnes of chicken meat a year, mostly for the domestic market, leaving less than one percent for exports. * Indonesian officials said they had yet to confirm which strain of avian flu had hit its poultry.

Cambodia * The poultry sector in Cambodia is relatively small. Agriculture ministry officials say there are fewer than 100 small-scale bird farms supplying the domestic market in and around Phnom Penh.

Pakistan The outbreak among chickens in Pakistan has killed as many as two million birds, but officials say the strains detected are less harmful to humans than some found elsewhere in Asia. There was no evidence yet that it had infected humans.

Laos Laos has confirmed an outbreak of bird flu among chickens. Officials say there had been no evidence that bird flu had jumped to humans. Some 3,500 chickens have died mysteriously in the region around the capital, Vientiane, since Jan. 14.