Dog died of flu in 2004
An academic who discovered that a dog in Thailand had died of bird flu said yesterday that people should not panic, as the virus could not jump from a dog to humans.
"There is no need to worry," Assoc Prof Taweesak Songserm said. He is a vet and lecturer at the Faculty of Veterinarian Science of Kasetsart University's Kamphaengsaen campus.His finding that a dog could contract bird flu by eating infected ducks were raised at a seminar on Wednesday and became a hot news item. Taweesak said he found the bird-flu virus in the body of a dog in 2004, collected from Suphan Buri when a large number of ducks died. "This means such infection will take place only when there are too many dead fowl to bury in time," he said. He said there was a minimal chance of such a scenario recurring. "I have never found any more dogs that have got bird flu." Over the past two years the ministry had ordered most ducks be put in closed farms, he said, so only a few remain in fields. Dr Charal Trinvuthipong, an assistant to the Agriculture Minister, said news that a dog could contract bird flu was no surprise, given that the dog was a mammal. "We have heard about tigers and a cat getting bird flu before," he said. However, there was no report that bird flu could jump from mammals to humans.
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