A total of 929 chickens at a farm in Yangon"e;s Mingaladon township were suspected to have died of H5N1 bird flu virus in three consecutive days during last week, said a statement of the Livestock Breeding Veterinary Department ( LBVD) released on Monday.

The Mingaladon township is among the five in Yangon confirmed by Myanmar itself to have been hit by the H5N1 virus since the first outbreak of the avian influenza in the city in late February. The other four townships affected with the virus are Mayangon, Hlaingtharya, North Okkalapa and Hmawby.

The remaining chickens at the affected Htaukkyant farm in the Mingaladon township and those from three nearby farms, totalling 6, 663, were culled as a preventive measure taken, the statement said.

Chickens, ducks and quails of suspected farms that are one kilometer away from the affected farm as well as domestic chickens and ducks were monitored and culled, and restriction was placed on transport and sale of poultry and poultry products in six- kilometer radius of the restricted zone, the statement added.

The LBVD assessed that bird flu virus spread to the affected farm due to transport and sale of chickens, ducks and quails at a place of junction in the township where there was an outbreak of the disease.

"When compared to the incidents in Sagaing and Mandalay divisions in previous year, the outbreak of bird flu in Yangon division is insignificant," the statement said.

The LBVD urged for reporting unusual deaths of chickens, ducks and quails for the control of spread of the virus and advised not to sell the remaining chickens, to intensify bio-security, to carry out disinfection at farms and to cooperate with the LBVD.

Suspicious avian influenza was detected on Feb. 27 in a small private poultry farm in northwestern Yangon"e;s suburban township of Mayangon, a year after the outbreak of the disease in northern Mandalay and Sagaing divisions.

In the Yangon outbreak, 1,863 fowls died of the virus with 37, 883 culled, according to earlier statement of the LBVD.

Meanwhile, two townships of Mayangon and the Hlaingtharya have been further confirmed of the bird flu outbreak by experts of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UNFAO) and the UNAID.

The UNFAO agreed last month to provide immediate technical assistance to strengthen emergency preparedness for highly pathogenic avian influenza. The assistance also includes equipment donated by the USAID to be used in preventive measures against the disease.

According to the Myanmar authorities, no human cases have so far been detected with bird flu virus in Yangon.

Source: Xinhua