Thailand’s Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives has joined hands
with relevant agencies in stepping up concrete measures to prevent the
new strain of bird flu virus H7N9 spreading in the country.
During a recent seminar on Thailand ’s readiness to tackle avian
influenza A/H7N9, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture and
Cooperatives Yukol Limlamthong said that Thailand is still at risk of a
possible H7N9 bird flu outbreak due to the ongoing pandemic in China
.
The minister has, however, reassured that preventive
measures are in place, including cleaning and disinfecting bird
flu-prone areas twice a year, controlling the transport of poultry
across provinces, and properly disposing of poultry carcasses.
Moreover, the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant
Conservation has been assigned to keep monitoring migratory flight
routes of birds, especially those from China.
The
Bureau of Emerging Infectious Diseases will convene the first board of
committee meeting for 2013 on May 3 while the Livestock Development is
set to request for additional budget worth 107 million THB for the
prevention of the outbreak.-VNA