Suphan Buri, one of the areas worst hit by avian-flu outbreaks, was finally declared an "emergency disaster area" yesterday.

The declaration followed a recommendation by the provincial livestock office that the province should be considered as a "suspected avian flu epidemic area", the province's governor said.

Songphol Thimasart said the livestock office had been monitoring an unusual rise in the number of farm-raised chickens dying in different areas around the province and suspected the deaths to have been caused by bird flu.

Under this status, Songphol said, the province would be able to seek emergency funding in advance in case of future compensation payments tofarmers to mitigate the impact of their birds dying or being culled.

This kind of compensation could only be made if the province is considered an "emergency disaster area" as a result of being a suspected avian flu epidemic area, Songphol said.

It was reported last week that about 200 chickens in the province's Muang district had died en masse, with livestock authorities taking some of the dead birds for testing to see whether the H5N1 virus was the cause of death.

The official test results have not yet been revealed, while reports of chick deaths possibly caused by bird flu had sprung up at various locations in the district.

A poultry farmer, who asked to remain nameless, in Song Phi Nong district said that from his experience with bird flu he thought that the 200 chickens had died from the virus.

"I was glad to see the province make this clear announcement [of it being an emergency disaster area] so that people here are aware and can prepare themselves," he said.

Meanwhile, in Phichit province, two young girls, aged three and four, were added to the watch-list of suspected human cases of bird flu yesterday after they were admitted to hospital with high fever, coughing and severe breathing difficulties.

Lab test results to determine if they have contracted the lethal virus are expected today.

The two girls, who reportedly fell ill in a community in Taphan Hin district where chickens have been dying, were being treated in an isolation ward pending their test results.

These two new cases brought the total number of suspected human bird-flu cases in the province to seven.

The other five cases are three children aged between three and five and two adults, one 57 and the other 72.