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Minister: Hundreds of storks have died of bird flu in Thailand
By (Agencies)
Updated: 2004-02-17 14:57

Hundreds of storks at two bird sanctuaries outside Bangkok have died of the bird flu that has struck Asia's poultry farms, but there are no plans to destroy the wildlife in the area, officials said Tuesday.

Some 500 open-billed storks were found dead in Ladkrabang district and 300 birds had died at the Bueng Borapet wetland since Jan. 27, Prapat Panyachatraksa, the minister of natural resources and environment, told reporters.

Laboratory tests found 30 percent to 40 percent of the dead storks, which are migratory birds, were infected with bird flu virus, he said.

Prapat said he has banned all visitors to the two sanctuaries.

But there were no plans to destroy the remaining storks and other birds in the area because it is difficult to trap wild birds, said another official in the ministry, speaking on condition of anonymity.

``We have destroyed the dead birds and sprayed the areas with disinfectant but we will not destroy the living birds,'' he said, adding that it is likely the dead storks were infected by local chickens.

Any attempt to kill remaining storks would cause them to fly away to other areas, increasing the risk of spreading the virus, he said. ``But I cannot say whether in the near future we have to kill them or not.''

He said Bung Borapet wetland surrounding a huge lake is home to more than 100,000 birds of various species, of which 40,000 are storks. About 80,000 storks live in Ladkrabang district.

Also Tuesday, an official said tests confirmed that a rare clouded leopard that died last month at the Khao Khiew Zoo southeast of Bangkok was killed by the same deadly strain of the virus that has infected humans and ravaged poultry stocks across the region.

Last week, officials said the leopard had died from bird flu, but that further tests were needed to determine the strain.

The leopard was usually fed beef and pork, but was ocassionally given chicken meat, which investigators believe may have been infected and spread to the cat, said Thirapat Prayoonsit, head of the academic division at the ministry.

Zoo keepers did not stop feeding chicken to the leopard until Jan. 22, when the government acknowledged the country was facing a bird flu outbreak, he added. The leopard died Jan. 27.

``We've have tested three times and are confident it was H5N1,'' Thirapat said, referring to the virus type. ``The mammal was not exposed to any other risk factors except the chicken diet.''

The outbreak in Asia has prompted slaughters of tens of millions of chickens. The virus also has killed 20 people"On Monday, the Thai government said bird flu has been detected in the previously unaffected northeastern province of Roi Et and has resurfaced in eight other provinces that were under observation.

All nine provinces are now designated as red zones, which indicate an active outbreak of the disease that will require culling of birds.

Besides, 32 of Thailand's 76 provinces are designated as yellow zones, meaning they will remain under observation for 21 days, a time period that has not been approved by any international health organization.

Bangkok is also a yellow zone and officials said it will not be upgraded to red zone immediately despite the discovery of the flu in the open-billed storks.

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