Fighting cocks a gamble with life

From Pro-Med Mail:

Cock-fighting birds likely culprit in Mukdahan  Laos H5N1 outbreak
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The latest bird flu epidemic in the northeastern province of Mukdahan
was most likely to have come from Sawannakhet province in Laos
through illegal cock-fighting tours, health officials said yesterday
[20 Mar 2007]. Meanwhile, the total number of local people who had
been in contact with dead poultry in 2 areas of the province's Muang
district where the H5N1 virus was confirmed has risen to 9, including
a livestock officer whose fighting cocks had died, presumably of bird flu.

Earlier, the subtype H5 was confirmed in a dead chicken in
Sawannakhet, and it was highly likely the virus had spread to
Mukdahan, said Dr Thawat Suntrajarn, the director-general of the
Department of Disease Control. There had not been a single case of
bird flu infection in the province over the past 3 years, and this
was the 1st time H5N1 was found, said Dr Prapas Veerapol, a bird flu
expert in Mukdahan. However, despite imposing stringent measures
against bringing poultry, both dead and alive, and eggs to the
province since the 1st confirmation of bird flu infection in Laos,
there was still smuggling along the Thai-Laos border, which extends
for 72 km in Mukdahan. Poultry smuggling and illegal cock-fighting
tours to Laos were 2 of the most likely channels for bird flu to have
spread to the province, Thawat said.

It was very difficult to control smugglers, who used small boats to
cross the Mekong River from Sawannakhet to Mukdahan, said Teerasuk
Nasok, a Mukdahan Port health officer. At the port, no birds or
poultry products have been allowed to be brought in since the bird
flu virus was confirmed in Laos, he said.

A source, who asked not to be named, said the cock-fighting game dens
were ordered shut down right after Laos confirmed the bird flu
epidemic, yet many local gamblers still sneaked out with their
fighting cocks for a session in Laos. A frequent gambler was the
livestock officer. A number of his fighting cocks had died, and he
himself was being watched for bird flu infection, said the source.
The results of lab tests on samples taken from the officer's poultry
were not yet known.

Seven of 8 people who had eaten a dead turkey plus the livestock
officer were given the antiviral drug Tamiflu to prevent infection. A
pregnant a woman was excluded, said Prapas. After being announced a
"disease outbreak zone" on Monday [19 Mar 2007], Mukdahan livestock
officials ordered "comb-search" testing for H5N1 virus in poultry in
every single house within a radius of one km from the 2 infected areas.

[Byline: Arthit Khwankhom]