Two suspected cases had been confirmed as bird flu infection, Thai Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyuthaphan told reporters on Friday afternoon in Bangkok.

A Thai livestock official collects chickens to be destroyed at a farm in Supanburi province, 105 km north of the capital Bangkok on January 23, 2004. Thais and tourists in Bangkok are shunning chicken after the government confirmed two Thais have caught bird flu, but visitors said they were not afraid to come to the country. [Reuters]

"A seven-year-old boy from Suphan Buri and a six-year-old one from Kanchanaburi have been tested positive for the H5N1 virus," the minister told a press conference

The two boys both lived close to chicken farms in two central Thai provinces and had contacted with chickens recently, said Sudarat.

She said the two patients with high temperature were currently receiving treatment in a hospital in Bangkok, while medical staff gave antibiotic medicine to other patients suspected of being infected.

She also said that there were at least four suspected cases yetto be confirmed except the two boys.

It's the first time that the government admitted the country has bird flu, which had devastated poultry industry in Vietnam, Japan and South Korea and claimed five Vietnamese' lives.

Thailand's Agriculture Ministry was currently carrying on testsover samples from 100,000 chickens on poultry farms to further study the disease.

Since November last year, Thailand had killed more than 850,000sick chickens and the government explained the culling as measuresto curb the spread of a foul cholera rather than bird flu.

Singapore, Cambodia, Laos, Japan and France have declared to suspend importing poultry products from Thailand.

Japan was Thailand's largest importer of chickens, buying some 270,000 tons of chicken last year, about half of the kingdom's total chicken export.

The European Union, the second largest chicken importer from Thailand, earlier threatened an immediate ban on Thailand's poultry products if the suspected cases were confirmed.

Thailand was world's fourth largest chicken exporter. It shipped out 540,000 tons of chicken worth some 1.3 billion US dollars last year and had a target of some 600,000 export for thisyear.

Close

Today's Top News		Top International News
+WHO: Bird flu death rises to 15; vaccination recommended ( 2004-02-05) +Solana: EU ready to lift China arms embargo ( 2004-02-05) +Nation tops TV, cell phone, monitor production ( 2004-02-05) +Absence ... still makes China hot ( 2004-02-05) +Hu: Developing world in key role ( 2004-02-04)		+WHO: Bird flu death rises to 15; vaccination recommended ( 2004-02-05) +Solana: EU ready to lift China arms embargo ( 2004-02-05) +US Mass. court clears way for gay marriages ( 2004-02-05) +Pakistan nuke scientist asks forgiveness ( 2004-02-05) +Sharon ready for referendum on scrapping settlements ( 2004-02-05)