HKBWS BBS 香港觀鳥會新聞組


    
      
        HKBWS BBS 香 港 觀 鳥 會 新 聞 組
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        Special Topics 特別主題 >> Wild Birds & Avian Flu 野鳥與禽流感 >>  BirdLife Response to Thai Avian Flu 鳥盟對泰國禽流感的回應
        
(Message started by: Project Officer on Jul 16^th, 2004, 6:47pm)

Title: BirdLife Response to Thai Avian Flu 鳥盟對泰國禽流感的回應
Post by Project Officer on Jul 16^th, 2004, 6:47pm

For members' interest:

BirdLife News Alert
Fri Jul 16 06:30:00 2004

BirdLife alarmed over latest avian flu outbreaks in Thailand
http://www.birdlife.org/news/pr/2004/07/thai_flu.html

BirdLife alarmed over latest avian flu outbreaks in Thailand
16-07-2004

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Cambridge, UK - BirdLife International has today written to The Right Honourable Thaksin Shinawatra, Prime Minister of Thailand, expressing concern over recent outbreaks of avian influenza in Thailand and public statements blaming wild birds for spreading the disease.

In his letter, Dr Michael Rands, Director & Chief Executive of BirdLife International, expresses concern over "recent calls to cull important populations of Openbill Storks". Not only is the Openbill Stork a protected species in Thailand, making such actions illegal, tests have also shown the birds to be free of the virulent strain of avian 'flu, and furthermore, the species is crucially important to the country's farmers because it controls populations of an introduced snail that is a pest in rice growing areas.

Members of the Bird Conservation Society of Thailand (BCST) have visited the stork colonies under threat and report that although no culling of birds has taken place, local officials have started to trim branches at Openbill roosting sites to reduce colony density. This has caused the birds to disperse more widely.

"Wild ducks" are increasingly being blamed for spreading the disease, but although wild birds are undoubtedly susceptible to avian 'flu, there is no evidence that migratory birds are to blame for the latest outbreak. Dr Rands's letter refers to a paper published last week in Nature, which demonstrates that the virulent form of avian 'flu, which devastated poultry in Asia earlier this year, originated from viral evolution in domestic ducks in southern China and later spread to chickens and other domestic gamebirds.

As Dr Rands points out "BirdLife believes that taking effective and decisive measures in poultry farms when 'flu outbreaks occur is the key to controlling the spread of this disease. Specifically this includes the culling of all poultry in the immediate vicinity, controlling the movements of poultry to and from the area, and waiting sufficient time after lapse of the disease before restocking is allowed to proceed."

ENDS