Published on October 18, 2005 - Officials order high-risk poultry farms to be sprayed as migration season nears. In an alarming development amid frenzied attempts by the Department of Livestock Development (DLD) to control the spread of the deadly H5N1 strain of avian influenza, laboratory tests have revealed the virus has already spread to such migratory birds as sparrows, pigeons and mynas.

Chawal Talhikorn, deputy director-general of the Department of National Parks, said the lab tests, conducted by Mahidol University’s Veterinary Depart-ment, had found 18 out of 11,705 samples collected from wild birds nationwide between June and October 7

had been infected with the H5N1 virus.

Chawal said most positive cases had been collected from infection-prone provinces, including Ratchaburi and Kanchanaburi. He said his department would collaborate closely with DLD and Public Health Ministry officials in increased efforts to control the spread of the virus, a possible mutation of which, it is feared, might jump the species barrier and kill countless humans.

The laboratory findings have deepened fears of a new outbreak of avian influenza at Thai poultry farms because the Eurasian tree sparrow (some specimens of which were found to be infected) is a very common species in the country.

However, Rattapan Pattana-rangsan, a veterinarian at Mahidol University, cautioned the public against undue panic, saying the chance for the disease to be spread widely by sparrows was slim.

Khunying Nattanon Taweesin, deputy permanent secretary of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administra-tion, said she had ordered all district offices across the capital to monitor pigeon populations closely. The carcasses of dead birds are to be sent for lab tests, she explained.

With the cold season approaching, Thai authorities are bracing for a potential resurgence of the deadly epidemic brought on by migratory birds.

Sumeth Chailertwanitchkul, Nakhon Sawan’s deputy provincial governor, spearheaded a disinfecting team yesterday to the province’s largest swamp, Beung Borapetch, where migratory birds from Siberia normally come to winter.

Also yesterday, Agricultural Minister Khunying Sudarat Keyuraphan headed a group of senior ministry officials on an inspection tour of infected areas in Nakhon Pathom and Suphan Buri. Sudarat ordered all poultry farms in the localities be disinfected.

Yukol Limleamthong, director general of the DLD, said there had been no new outbreak of the virus, adding chicken meat available at markets was safe for consumption.