Maximum alert over avian flu in Thailand

Government sets up 'observation zones' to monitor the situation as fears grow. Another death is reported in Indonesia.

Bangkok (AsiaNews) – Thai authorities have warned the population to remain vigilant against the bird flu. Special controls are being carried out in high-risk zones.

With the H5N1 virus detected in birds in Europe, Iran, Egypt and India, Thai authorities are not taking any chances. They have concluded that there is a high risk that migratory birds will bring the disease into the country. For this reason, the Department of Communicable Disease Control (DCDC) of the Thai Ministry of Public Health has set up observation zones in high risk areas such as Nakhon Pathom province.

"The World Health Organisation has warned that an influenza pandemic worse than that of 1918 may occur and that it could kill up to a quarter of the world's population," said Chai Ung-pakorn, political science professor at Chulalongkorn University during a press conference at Rangsit University.

"The avian flu was first detected in Thailand in late 2003 with the result that people stopped eating chicken and eggs," said Dr. Kham-nuan Ung-Chusak, Director of the DCDC'S Epidemiology Office. But "despite the government's announcement in April 2004 that the virus had been stopped, five people died from it in the following months. Still, for a year now there have been no reports of outbreaks," he added.

In Indonesia, the authorities confirmed that the death toll from the virus now stood at 19. A 23-year-old market worker who died last week had the H5N1 virus. This week local authorities are planning an intensive bird flu testing and culling campaign, said Syamsul Basri, director of Animal Health at the Agriculture Ministry

Birds will be randomly tested in six of Indonesia's 33 provinces. If tests yield positive results, birds will be culled within a one-kilometre radius.

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