THE DISCOVERY of a new strain of av

THE DISCOVERY of a new strain of avian-flu virus, H7N7, in China has prompted Thailand’s environment watch agency to tighten its measures on emerging-disease surveillance and closely monitor suspicious bird illnesses and deaths nationwide.
More than 200 wildlife-sanctuary staff and biologists have been told to keep a close watch on migratory birds from northern regions of Asia over next three months, as thousand of birds will flock to Thailand during the winter season.
“Hundreds of officials nationwide are now preparing to monitor any suspicious bird behaviour that might cause the spread of emerging diseases – especially this new strain of bird-flu virus,” said Theerapat Prayurasiddhi, director-general of the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department.
China Central Television reported yesterday that a research team at the University of Hong Kong had found the new H7N7 virus in chickens.
The virus was also found to cause severe pneumonia in ferrets.
To date, there is no official report about the spread of H7N7. Over the past year, the Conservation Department has collected 4,200 samples of species nationwide to test the bird-flu viruses H5N1 and H7N9 and Nipah virus.
Test results showed that no wild birds had been infected.