WHO warns Thai bird flu monitoring lagging: report
WHO warns Thai bird flu monitoring lagging: report
Agence France-Presse/Bangkok
The World Health Organization (WHO) has criticized Thailand for
not doing enough to monitor birds capable of carrying the deadly
avian flu virus, media reported on Saturday, following the
kingdom's ninth human death.
Komsan Fukhom, 18, who reared fighting cocks in eastern
Prachin Buri province, died on Wednesday, becoming the 28th Asian
fatality from the lethal strain of bird flu that swept the region
in 2004.
"The death from the H5N1 strain of bird flu shows the
quarantine measure to prevent the epidemic among animals is not
good enough, and that should be improved," WHO Thailand
representative Kumara Rai was quoted as saying in the Bangkok
Post.
In late July, Thailand confirmed resurgent outbreaks in
chickens and other birds had hit 27 of the kingdom's 76 provinces
but said it had swiftly and successfully tackled the new cases.
A transport ban and fighting cock "passports" were among
measures introduced by Thailand to try to prevent the birds
spreading disease while being taken across the country for
fights.
The criticism follows a warning by the WHO Friday that more
people are likely to be killed by the virus, which it described
as still being endemic in Asia.
Thailand is expected to announce on Monday whether it will
inoculate fighting birds against the virus after Prime Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra urged the Health Ministry to consider
vaccination.
The kingdom -- the world's fourth largest poultry exporter --
had until Friday ruled out using vaccines as a way of fighting
its outbreak despite advice from the United Nations that
countries should consider inoculating birds.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization declared in July it
was backing broader use of vaccinations, which would guarantee an
import ban by the European Union -- a key export market for
Thailand. The EU has already blocked imports of Thai poultry
until at least December.
Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, China and Malaysia have all
reported bird flu outbreaks since July after an earlier crisis
this year left eight dead in Thailand and 16 in Vietnam and
crippled poultry industries.
Vietnam late last month confirmed that three more people had
died from the disease -- bringing its toll to 19 -- more than
four months after declaring that bird flu had been contained.
The WHO fears that H5N1 could mutate into a highly contagious
form that triggers the next global human flu pandemic.