BANGKOK, Oct. 19 (Xinhuanet) -- The Thai government is determined to end all open-field duck farming by the coming winter so as to eradicate the avian influenza.

    Ducks raised in open fields were a crucial source of the H5N1 strain of bird flu and it was feared that the poultry epidemic situation will deteriorate in the coming cold season.

    "Research showed that these [field-reared] ducks and wild birdsare likely to get sick and killed by the [bird-flu] virus that lies dormant in them in the hot season," Deputy Prime Minister Chaturon Chaisang was quoted by Tuesday´s Bangkok Post as saying.

    Ducks could carry the flu virus and were strong enough to remain alive, and the virus could live in water sources for up to 30 days.

    Therefore, the government on a Monday´s meeting decided to put all ducks in the kingdom to a closed system of breeding.

    Under the plan, the government will buy out all open-field raised ducks, destroy their eggs and give farmers full compensation.

    So far, the government has started survey duck population, register farmers and promised to find new livelihood for the farmers.

    The job of ending the centuries-long farming style is expected to be completed in three months.

    The next step for the Thai government is to monitor fighting cocks and chickens raised at backyard, said Chaturon.

    Having hit by two rounds of bird flu outbreaks, Thailand´s has suffered great economic loss including at least 30 million birds culled in first outbreak and more than 100 million US dollars has been spent for compensation.

    The epidemic also claimed lives of 11 Thais during the two outbreaks and the kingdom has been fully alerted over a "probable human-to-human transmission" case.

    Describing tackling the disease as the country´s top priority, the Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra earlier set Oct. 31 as the deadline to eradicate bird flu from Thailand.

    In late September, the United States Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE)jointly issued a statement, warning the disease won´t be eradicated from the region in the near future and asking for more investment to solve the problem.

news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-10/19/content_2109657.htm