Published on October 23, 2005 - Decrees to control rearing, transport of birds and make farmers form co-ops. Two new ministerial decrees will soon be introduced by the Ministry of Agriculture in order to reduce the spread of bird flu. The first of the two new regulations will forbid farmers to raise poultry in areas designated as risky or monitored.

The second rule will prevent any transfer of poultry without the approval of the Department of Livestock.

The new regulations, which come with prison sentences of yet unspecified duration will help the government manage the raising of chickens and ducks and will be in place by May.

Owners of fighting cocks will also be required to register them, and the birds will have to be raised individually under nets to prevent them contracting flu from wild birds, said Agriculture Minister Khunying Sudarat Keyuraphan.

“The ministry will also order all local chicken farmers to form a cooperative and build a common pen where buyers can take them or keep them for their own consumption. This will make it easier to control [the situation],” Suradat said, adding that monitored areas had been reduced from 15 to 12 in Kanchanaburi, Kampaengphet, Nakhon Pathom and Suphan Buri provinces.

The situation in Kampaengphet is most alarming with five districts declared risky and the number of birds destroyed about 34,000.

Meanwhile 500,000 village health volunteers will be mobilised to educate rural people about bird flu and how to avoid it, while 1,300 rapid-action teams will be formed and deployed in the effort. About 600,000 antiviral tablets have been stockpiled by the government.

The government insisted yesterday that bird flu had not spread from human to human. This came as residents in the village where seven-year-old Ranarith Benphad contracted bird flu are being watched closely, especially the boy’s family and close friends and relatives. While they are not quarantined, officials have kept a close eye on them. The area has also been disinfected.

The funeral of Bang-orn Benphad, Ranarith’s father and the latest bird-flu victim, took place yesterday with six men wearing surgical masks and medical gowns carrying his coffin.