Thailand Investigates Cow Deaths For Bird Flu

[george]

Thailand investigates cow deaths for bird flu

BANGKOK - Thailand is checking nearly 200 cows and buffalos that apparently died of cold weather to be sure they were not infected with Asia's deadly bird flu virus, officials said on Thursday.

Reports that the virus, which has killed 22 people including seven Thais, may have spread to cows sent jitters through the Thai stock exchange.

A health official from northeastern Kalasin province where the animals died said an investigation was under way. However, the chances were remote that they died of the H5N1 virus.

"I am quite confident the dead animals did not die of the disease, but rather they succumbed to cold weather," said the official, who declined to give his name.

"They were raised in the hills and the dead ones were mostly from the young and old herds. This sort of thing has happened in the past," he added.

Deputy Agriculture Minister Newin Chidchob played down speculation that the disease, which has mainly affected chickens, had spread to other animals.

In one of the few confirmed cases of the virulent flu strain jumping to animals other than birds, a rare clouded leopard at a zoo near Bangkok was confirmed on Monday as having died of bird flu.

Kalasin, 520 km (325 miles) northeast of the capital Bangkok, has been removed from a list of about 40 Thai provinces that had earlier been declared "red" zones.

This month there were fears, quickly quashed by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation, that the virus had infected pigs in Vietnam. That could speed up its mutation process.

--Reuters 2004-02-19

[mouse]

Since this mess started I lost a Rottweiler, 4 Parrotts, 1 Canary and my Mother in Law. Everone said that they died of ther things but of course everything was cremated quickly. We are right inthe middle of a alledged red zone and the people in the village have yet to cull their chickens, as instructed by the government. They just wait for them to die. I worry about the next wave of this disease. They should zoning laws for animals i.e. how close animals can be kept to houses etc.

[Thetyim]

I offer my sincere condolences except for the last one.

[plachon]

Since this mess started I lost a Rottweiler, 4 Parrotts, 1 Canary and my Mother in Law. Everone said that they died of ther things but of course everything was cremated quickly. We are right inthe middle of a alledged red zone and the people in the village have yet to cull their chickens, as instructed by the government. They just wait for them to die. I worry about the next wave of this disease. They should zoning laws for animals i.e. how close animals can be kept to houses etc.

There's several montypythonesque jokes in there, but i'll desist making them in this time of grieving for your rottweiler.

[Ned]

I live in a village in Chiang Mai, a province so far spared a red zoning for bird flu and the place is crawling with chickens. So far I haven't heard of any dying of the flu but then again if any did I'm sure the locals wouldn't tell anyone anyway, much less move to cull any survivors. The villagers also raise hundreds and hundreds of pigs right next to their houses and these filthy creatures are tied up in small pens and lie around in puddles of shit and urine. Chickens spend a fair bit of their time mingling with the pigs, jumping up on their backs and pecking around in the pig pens looking for scraps. The stench of pig shit is a constant annoyance to those people not raising pigs themselves (a small minority) but as the headman has pigs there is nothing these people can do. In addition more and more pigs are being raised as the profits from village whisky production is dropping dramatically since the imposition of a taxing regime.

The point of all this is a fear I have in the wake of the discovery of the bird virus in cats that the virus will make the easier genetic jump to the pigs. THese are expensive animals and all attempts will be made by the villagers to cover it up leading to a potentially very dangerous health situation indeed. Do you agree?