Monday, February 19, 2007
Laos reports fresh outbreak of bird flu among poultry near capital
Laos has reported a fresh outbreak of virulent bird flu in poultry on two farms near the country’s capital Vientiane, a world animal health group said Monday.
The outbreak of H5N1 bird flu in Vientiane’s Sisatannak district was detected on Feb. 7, said a notification from the Paris-based World Organization for Animal Health, also known as OIE.
The Department of Livestock and Fisheries of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry reported that 100 ducks at a commercial farm had died, as had 12 birds at a nearby backyard farm where chickens, ducks, geese and pigeons were raised. The last reported outbreak of the H5N1 virus among poultry in Laos occurred in July 2006, also near Vientiane.
No human cases have been reported in Laos, although there have been 25 human cases, including 17 deaths, in Thailand, just across the nearby border from Vientiane.