Officials Keep Close Watch On Bird Flu At Thai-Lao Border

NAKHON PHANOM, November 29 (TNA) - Officials at a livestock development office in Thailand's northeastern Nakhon Phanom Province have kept a close watch for repeated outbreaks of bird flu in the province bordering neighbouring Laos in this winter, as the provincial meteorological office reported on Tuesday that temperatures have now dropped to about 18 degrees Celsius, a lowest level. As the cold weather has begun sweeping through the province and other areas in the country with increasing risks of new seasonal bird flu outbreaks, Nakhon Phanom's livestock officials have been sent out to educate local farmers in high-risk areas. They are also seen at local poultry farms, spraying disinfectant to kill germs, as part of their efforts to prevent the possible outbreaks of the avian influenza. Meanwhile, Nakhon Phanom's livestock development office has also coordinated with officials at border checkpoints in closely monitoring livestock movements, particularly cross-border transport, although there have been no reports on dead fowl with unknown causes in the province so far. In Ban Klang locality of Muang District near the Mekong River, local farmers have covered their poultry farms with nets to prevent their fowl from any contraction of the avian flu from migrant birds, as Nakhon Phanom was previously hit by bird flu outbreaks, particularly in Muang District, where many chicken farms are located with as many as some 200,000 live chickens totally. (TNA)