Bangkok (AsiaNews/Agencies) – There is a new bird flu victim in Thailand. Meanwhile China, Vietnam and Russia have reported infection in domestic breeding farms.

Thaksin Shinawatra, Thai premier confirmed that a 48-year-old man from Kanchanaburi province west of Bangkok died from the lethal H5N1 virus. He was infected because he killed and ate an infected bird. The man, whose initial tests had not confirmed the disease, is the thirteenth fatality in the country since 2003. The last death occurred in October 2004. Twenty-one out of 76 provinces have been quarantined. There is a widespread vaccination of domestic birds under way in anticipation of the coming winter when an increased risk of contagion is expected.

The virus is considered to be endemic in all Southeast Asia. The situation has been aggravated – according to York Chow, secretary of the Health, Wellbeing and Nutrition sector of the Hong Kong government – because poor countries do not have the structures or means to undertake periodic tests to monitor the situation. China, Japan and Hong Kong, said Chow, have the best testing centres in Asia, however other states "may not ascertain bird flu infection with sufficient speed". The expert also criticised countries with a deficient public health service system, so that when sick people are "admitted to hospital, they don't have the money to have the tests and they will ask doctors to treat them in the most affordable way."

Although prevention initiatives are under way across the continent, new cases of infection continue to emerge.

Taiwan. On 14 October, a load of smuggled chickens coming from China was apprehended; they were infected with the deadly virus. The animals were all culled.

China: A new epidemic has been found among chickens in Tengjiaying village near Hohhot, the capital of Inner Mongolia; 2,600 chickens have died. Official sources insisted that the "epidemic is under control". It appears that all birds in the area have been culled and quarantine enforced within a 3.5km radius. Aphaluck Bhatiasevi, spokesman in Beijing for the World Health Organisation, voiced concern. The organisation says "further measure to increase monitoring at local level" are necessary. The last time there was news of a breeding ground in China was in August, when 133 birds died and 2,475 were culled near Lhasa, the capital of Tibet.

Vietnam. In the country hardest hit by the disease, 180 ducks were put down this week in a farm in Bac Lieu province in Lekong delta. Another 400 had already died of the sickness. This was the first case of infection of a domestic poultry farm recorded since July. Since 2003, 61 people died in all Asia, 41 in Vietnam alone (91 infected people have been certified in the country). Already 56 million chickens have been vaccinated, out of a planned target of 156 million and 260 million doses of the vaccine for birds have been ordered from China. Since last April, there were 22 certified cases of the epidemic among birds in 10 provinces and 14,400 chickens died or were slaughtered.

Indonesia. Two suspect cases – a father and son – were hospitalised today in Jakarta. They are undergoing testing. The health authorities said there have been only a few confirmed cases in the country. However there have been a good 85 cases of suspected infection, which were never confirmed.

Israel and Jordan. Officials of the two states met today to coordinate efforts to counter the infection. The two nations, said Silvan Shalom, Foreign Affairs Minister of Israel, want to join forces against the virus which is expected to hit the Middle East soon.

Russia. Infected birds were found in a good six farms in Yandovka village, Tula county, around 220knm south of Moscow. A lake is nearby, the usual destination of wild ducks. All the poultry in the village have been slaughtered and a strict quarantine put in place: residents may leave only in cases of "emergency".  The presence of the virus had already been ascertained for some days in various areas of Siberia. But this is the first time the virus manifested itself beyond the Ural mountains, which are on the border between Asian and European Russia.