• 
• 

Published on January 26, 2008

"The results should be out soon," Phichit Governor Preecha Ruangchan said yesterday.

He said a resident had reported that 30 chickens in Sak Lek sub-district had died suspiciously en masse last Friday. Following the report, relevant officials put down another 187 in the neighbourhood as a preventive measure.

The deaths have raised concern that bird flu might be spreading again. On Thursday another lab test confirmed an outbreak of bird flu in neighbouring Nakhon Sawan's Chumsaeng district.

"We have set up checkpoints to prevent the transportation of birds from Nakhon Sawan into our province," Preecha said.

He said 19 local people were being closely monitored because they lived in the area where the chickens had died.

In Nakhon Sawan, officials culled 45,000 birds on Thursday night and sprayed disinfectant in areas within a 5-kilometre radius of the spot where bird-flu infection was detected.

Up to 13 people are being monitored because they live close by.

Chumsaeng district chief Pissanu Senawin urged people to alert authorities if more than 10 per cent of their birds suddenly died.

The Nation