Bird Flu Found In Laos Poultry, Type Not Yet Known
Bird flu has been found in about 2,500 chickens who died on a farm near the Laotian capital of Vientiane last week, but the type of flu hasn’t been determined yet, a Laotian official said Thursday.
Lao Foreign Ministry spokesman Yong Chanthalansy confirmed a report on the Web site of the Vientiane Times newspaper that the Lao government’s National Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Committee on July 18 had confirmed that the chickens died of bird flu.
The results of laboratory tests to determine whether it was the virulent H5N1 virus are expected in a week or two, he said. The committee’s statement said 2,580 chickens were found dead at the farm in Xaythany district, 25 kilometers (15 miles) south of Vientiane, according to the newspaper.
It said the same farm experienced a bird flu outbreak in 2004. After the chickens’ deaths, agriculture officials culled about 6,000 more birds at the farm.
Yong said the government has stepped up surveillance and control measures, including disseminating information to people on how to prevent the spread of bird flu and tightening control for imported poultry products. Bird flu swept through poultry populations in many parts of Asia beginning in 2003 and also jumped to humans, as well as to other regions.
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