Govt Declares Bangkok, 29 Provinces As Disaster Zone

[george]

Govt declares 29 provinces as bird flu disaster zone

BANGKOK: -- The government Tuesday declared twenty nine central and northeastern provinces, including Bangkok, as disaster zone as part of measure to curb bird flu, government spokesman Surapong Suebwonglee said.

The cabinet also approved the creation of chicken "death squads" responsible for terminating infected birds as well as all poultry within a one-kilometer radius of any future bird flu outbreaks.

Surapong said the declaration would make it easier for government to provide compensation to farmers whose birds must be killed.

Agriculture Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan said the government will test chickens within five kilometers of an outbreak to check the spread of bird flu.

Four new mobile labs will be set up across the northern and central provinces to test for the disease.

The government also issued strict safety measures for another 30 provinces, requiring vehicles and equipment to be disinfected before traveling between farms.

--The Nation Breaking News 2006-08-08

[bubba]

Brilliant...just wait until CNN gets hold of this one.

"Bangkok declared bird flu disaster area!"

Tourists? What tourists?

[King Dong]

Brilliant...just wait until CNN gets hold of this one.

"Bangkok declared bird flu disaster area!"

Tourists? What tourists?

Yep, a crackdown would have been better

[ratcatcher]

Brilliant...just wait until CNN gets hold of this one.

"Bangkok declared bird flu disaster area!"

Tourists? What tourists?

Yep, a crackdown would have been better

BBC NEWS

Indonesia bird flu toll 'hits 43'

A chicken vendor in a market in northern Sumatra

Bird flu is endemic in Indonesian poultry

Indonesia has reported its 43rd human bird flu death which - if confirmed by the World Health Organization - would give it the world's highest death toll.

BBC NEWS

China rethinks bird flu history

A rooster on sale in a Shanghai market in February 2006

China's Health Ministry has confirmed the findings

China has announced that its first human bird flu death came two years earlier than previously reported, state media has said.

Looks like Indonesia is in the lead to be Chicken Flu Hub.

BBC NEWS

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/default.stm

[Toon Army]

Brilliant...just wait until CNN gets hold of this one.

"Bangkok declared bird flu disaster area!"

Tourists? What tourists?

Yep, a crackdown would have been better

Thai government can't do right for doing wrong

[dezeure]

Brilliant...just wait until CNN gets hold of this one.

"Bangkok declared bird flu disaster area!"

Tourists? What tourists?

Yep, a crackdown would have been better

BBC NEWS

Indonesia bird flu toll 'hits 43'

A chicken vendor in a market in northern Sumatra

Bird flu is endemic in Indonesian poultry

Indonesia has reported its 43rd human bird flu death which - if confirmed by the World Health Organization - would give it the world's highest death toll.

BBC NEWS

China rethinks bird flu history

A rooster on sale in a Shanghai market in February 2006

China's Health Ministry has confirmed the findings

China has announced that its first human bird flu death came two years earlier than previously reported, state media has said.

Looks like Indonesia is in the lead to be Chicken Flu Hub.

BBC NEWS

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/default.stm

Chicken Flu Hub or Chicken Flu Club?

Give it some time and TH will be in the spotlight with all the other countries... but lets hope not.

[hilly]

Hmm. It is a copy from the Nation Newspaper which calls it a bird flue disaster zone. It got my attention though.

Edited August 8, 2006 by george

[KhunPadThai]

Why hasn't Thailand done what Viet Nam did: vaccinate all the chickens in the country? Although Viet Nam has had a high number of deaths (42) it has not had any outbreak this year. Thailand's policy of not preventing, but eradicating after an outbreak is demonstrably less effective. Did TH adopt this policy to save money for Charoen Pokpand and other large poultry producers?

[kc_phil]

Tourists? What tourists?

I never really thought of a poultry farm as a tourist attraction....

[Meerkat]

The vaccination doesn't offer complete protection, and in fact can inadvertantly hide the disease in flocks. At least, they were the reasons cited for the UK not vaccinating birds there earlier on this year.

Having been based in HK during both the original breakout of modern bird-flu in 97/98, and during SARS, I would much rather the government be open to the public about the issue, even if they could be accused of exaggerating the situation. The mismanagement in HK was bad enough; the secrecy surrounding outbreaks in mainland China doubly-so.

Yes, there are risks of a short-term economic downturn for some sectors of the economy, but that pales into insignificance when compared with a full-blown epidemic.

[Ijustwannateach]

Chicken Death Squads???

They *really* need a PR man working overtime...

Isn't a disaster zone usually a place where a disaster has already happened?

Better to call them Bird Flu Security Zones, or Prevention Zones, or something that alerts people without alarming them. Sheesh...

"Steven"

[Martin]

Never mind "peak oil" for a moment.

I think the graph of the history of the sales of the global cheap-chicken-meat industry is passing through its peak.

But Charoen Pokpand may well come through OK with their increasing production for in-country sales in China making up for their loss of business in the "reared-in-Thailand/sold-in-the West" trade.

Fortunately Thailand has the productive land available for those who lose their jobs with CP to return to peasantry.

[phibunmike]

Tourists? What tourists?

I never really thought of a poultry farm as a tourist attraction....

I never really thought of Bangkok as a poultry farm....

[isaanbrit]

Classic comment phibunmike

[Meerkat]

Tourists? What tourists?

I never really thought of a poultry farm as a tourist attraction....

I never really thought of Bangkok as a poultry farm....

Hehe...the Chinese (well, at least Cantonese) slang for a "lady of the night" is a "chicken"...

[OzMan_Bkk]

Going back a week or so, it seems that outbreaks of the disease were covered up by small poultry farms. They buried dead birds without reporting anything. It seems it only came to the attention of authorities when a 17yo farm hand died after handling dead birds with his bare hands.

I agree that "Disaster Zone" is a PR nightmare but better they do something now and get everything under control before November. Don't worry about the tourists. Most of them appear to come for the chickens WITHOUT feathers. Let's just hope the government make a better job of eradicating bird flu than running elections....

[jaapfries]

Brilliant...just wait until CNN gets hold of this one.

"Bangkok declared bird flu disaster area!"

Tourists? What tourists?

Maybe I am being super-pessimistic, but has anyone considered the possibility, that there are other and very dark motives at work here ?

What could be a possible reason for Thaksin to create a, virtually, "tourist-free" Bangkok ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

Could it be that he IS perhaps planning a little "Military-Coup" ? ? ? ?

I, for one, wouldn't put it past him; especially if you consider the fact that he is now well & truly "backed" into a corner he will (normally) not be able to get out of . . . . . . .

You know what they say about "Cats-In-Corners", right ?

Well "Skunks" are even much more fierce - and that's what we may well be facing here.

Hoping (like there's no tomorrow !) that I am wrong ! ! ! !

JGK/Pattaya

[LoveThai]

The bestway to prevent bird flu to catch up with us is to turn vegetarian. That is, i guess, the best protection.

[Sulaphat]

Why hasn't Thailand done what Viet Nam did: vaccinate all the chickens in the country? Although Viet Nam has had a high number of deaths (42) it has not had any outbreak this year. Thailand's policy of not preventing, but eradicating after an outbreak is demonstrably less effective. Did TH adopt this policy to save money for Charoen Pokpand and other large poultry producers?

Many countries ban imports of poultry products from countries which have avian influenza outbreaks. The problem with vaccination is that one can't tell whether the positive test results for avian influenza is from the vaccine or from the disease.

Therefore vaccination = positive test result = poultry product ban.

Yes. This would hurt the poultry industry and is likely why Thailand has not used vaccine.

[Erwin1011]

Brilliant...just wait until CNN gets hold of this one.

"Bangkok declared bird flu disaster area!"

Tourists? What tourists?

Maybe I am being super-pessimistic, but has anyone considered the possibility, that there are other and very dark motives at work here ?

What could be a possible reason for Thaksin to create a, virtually, "tourist-free" Bangkok ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

Could it be that he IS perhaps planning a little "Military-Coup" ? ? ? ?

I, for one, wouldn't put it past him; especially if you consider the fact that he is now well & truly "backed" into a corner he will (normally) not be able to get out of . . . . . . .

You know what they say about "Cats-In-Corners", right ?

Well "Skunks" are even much more fierce - and that's what we may well be facing here.

Hoping (like there's no tomorrow !) that I am wrong ! ! ! !

JGK/Pattaya

Ever tried to corner a rat? It jumps staight at your throat up to 2m high.

[Erwin1011]

The vaccination doesn't offer complete protection, and in fact can inadvertantly hide the disease in flocks. At least, they were the reasons cited for the UK not vaccinating birds there earlier on this year.

Worse, it not only hides the existance of the disease in the population and the spreading outside of it, but it allows mutation to go on unchecked. You might suddenly end up with what is feared the most : a human transmitted mutant.

[Johpa]

Never mind "peak oil" for a moment.

I think the graph of the history of the sales of the global cheap-chicken-meat industry is passing through its peak.

But Charoen Pokpand may well come through OK with their increasing production for in-country sales in China making up for their loss of business in the "reared-in-Thailand/sold-in-the West" trade.

Fortunately Thailand has the productive land available for those who lose their jobs with CP to return to peasantry.

I would not be too concerned about the CP group nor the Chiaravanont family. Little of their profits have stayed in Thailand, only the miniscule amount needed to maintain their local lifestyle.

[basjke]

Didn't Thaksin say early 2005 "by june this year there will be no trace of birdflu anymore in Thailand"?Maybe he can come up again with the brilliant idea to barter those chickens with birdflu free countries.

[AmeriThai]

The vaccination doesn't offer complete protection, and in fact can inadvertantly hide the disease in flocks. At least, they were the reasons cited for the UK not vaccinating birds there earlier on this year.

Worse, it not only hides the existance of the disease in the population and the spreading outside of it, but it allows mutation to go on unchecked. You might suddenly end up with what is feared the most : a human transmitted mutant.

There's nothing worse than mutants transmitted by a human. Maybe zombies are a little worse.

[peterjackson]

Hey

At least they haven't taken a leaf out of the American USDA on the BSE issue.

When a USDA vet. was asked recently about BSE in USA herds. He quite proudly said, there have only been a handful of reported BSE cases in USA herds and they where all traced back to Canada.

He went on to say, when you consider we have millions of head of cattle in the USA less than 10 isolated cases is vindication of our procedures and policies.

He was then asked......how many cattle are tested for BSE. He said, there is no point having a testing programme, when you know your cattle are safe.

So, there you have it. Don't test and then you can report that you have no cases.

Remember the Oprah vs Beef Industry....talk about power of the beef industry.

Regards

Peter

[Sturbuc]

Tourists? What tourists?

I never really thought of a poultry farm as a tourist attraction....

I never really thought of Bangkok as a poultry farm....

... well, maybe you should walk a bit in the outskirts - many people do have some chicken. And thats the problem. The official farms might be kept under control, but the chicken fom next door? And these chicken share their live with your neighbours....

[Crushdepth]

Chicken "Death Squads"? Oh please...

[lukamar]

Why hasn't Thailand done what Viet Nam did: vaccinate all the chickens in the country? Although Viet Nam has had a high number of deaths (42) it has not had any outbreak this year. Thailand's policy of not preventing, but eradicating after an outbreak is demonstrably less effective. Did TH adopt this policy to save money for Charoen Pokpand and other large poultry producers?

03 August 2006

Thailand's first outbreak of the feared H5N1 bird flu virus in eight months could signal another flare up in Vietnam, government officials were quoted on Thursday as saying.

Vietnam, where the virus has killed 42 people, had been free of it for more than seven months but a failure to control its waterfowl stock made it vulnerable, they said.

Deputy Agriculture Minister Bui Ba Bong said bird flu, which erupted across much of Asia in late 2003, often hit Thailand first and broke out in Vietnam next, the Tien Phong (Vanguard) newspaper reported. "This year the situation is similar and it will be hard for Vietnam to escape," Bong was quoted as saying as another senior official fretted about ducks, which can carry the virus without showing symptoms.

Nguyen Dang Vang, head of the Agriculture Ministry's Husbandry Department, said Vietnam's waterfowl stock had doubled to more than eight million since February despite a government ban on waterfowl hatching. "We are nearly unable to control the waterfowl stock," Vang told the newspaper.

A rice harvest in the Mekong delta means ducks are roaming freely from one field to another to collect spilled grain, raising the risk of spreading bird flu. Adding to that risk, wild birds believed to carry the H5N1 virus would soon migrate from the north, Vang said. Since the last poultry outbreak in December, officials and consumers have relaxed while poultry smuggling from China has risen.

Late last month, Thailand reported one human death and fresh outbreaks in poultry and the virus has recurred in Laos and China with which Vietnam shares land borders.

The official human death toll is now 134 worldwide, according to the World Health Organisation. The virus remains essentially an animal disease but experts fear it could spark a pandemic if it mutates into a form that can pass easily among people.

© Reuters

==================

There are more deaths worldwide from normal flu's than H5N1 and in Thailand you are probably more at risk of contracting Dengue Fever, Japanese Encephalitis or Malaria.

[Pond Life]

I realise that this comment will be about as popular as a turd on a banquet table, but, with the world population exploding out of control, isnt a global pandemic just what we need ?

I say let nature run its course, in the long run the Earth & human race will be better off with drasticly less of us around.

I look forward to hearing your opinions on this.

[Huckenfell]

Tourists? What tourists?

I never really thought of a poultry farm as a tourist attraction....

I never really thought of Bangkok as a poultry farm....

Hehe...the Chinese (well, at least Cantonese) slang for a "lady of the night" is a "chicken"...

OMG ............that means the bar trade will be stuffed then!