14 February 2004

BIRD FLU CRISIS

Test results showed three migratory Asian open-billed storks that died in Nakhon Sawan had the H5N1sub-type of avian flu, but authorities said it was unlikely they had carried this virulent strain from abroad.

Natural Resources and Environment Minister Praphat Panyachartrak also said a clouded leopard at Khao Khiew Zoo in Chon Buri was confirmed to have died of bird flu, while a white tiger also caught the disease but is recovering and now under close surveillance.

``A study is needed to find if the storks caught the disease from chickens,'' Mr Praphat said on Thursday, insisting his ministry would not order mass culling of this bird species without sound scientific proof that the storks were carriers of the disease.

Hundreds of open-billed storks have died at Bung Boraphet swamp in Nakhon Sawan and Bangkok's Lat Krabang district, where poultry infected with bird flu were found.

An official said the mass death of storks in Lat Krabang had prompted the Agriculture Ministry to demand that up to 20,000 migratory open-billed storks be killed.

Samples of the storks living at Phut Khao bird park in Lat Krabang and at Wang Nam Priew in Chachoengsao province were collected by environment officials on Wednesday for testing.

Mr Praphat suspected some of the storks could have been exposed to avian flu in Thailand after their arrival late last year.

He said it was unlikely the storks were carriers of the H5N1 variant because they all came from Bangladesh, where there have been no reports about the H5N1 strain so far.

``We'd better tell Bangladesh to keep a close watch on the birds on their return,'' he said. The storks are expected to start their journey again in May.