As Chinese new year cerebration is drawing near in early February, mostly Thai ethnic Chinese are planing the paying-respect to ancestor rite, of which chickens are usually used as food tokens. Since the avian influenza out break has been rampaging in 2004, Department of Disease Control, therefore, issues the advice for the public to avoid being infected by the avian influenza virus in this occasion as follow:

Consumer of chicken and chicken products:

                • Chicken meats and eggs in the market are safe and can be eaten as usual, but they must be thoroughly cooked.

                • Avoid eating half cooked chicken meats. Food tokens used in the rite, usually cooked to medium, therefore, after the ceremony, they must be re-cooked again before consumption.

Commercial food handler and housewife who prepare food for household consumption:

                • Choose fresh chicken meat carefully. Avoid the appearances, which indicated infected meat or chicken died from the disease such as dark, bruised meat or hemorrhagic spots. For fresh egg, choose new, clean, and no chicken feces on the eggshell. Clean thoroughly before cooking.

                • Do not use dirty hand to touch the nose, eyes, or mouth. Wash hands frequently, especially after handling chicken meat, offal and eggshell with feces on.

                • Use separate chopping boards for vegetable, cooked and raw food.

Poultry butcher:

                • Do not buy chickens which have signs of infection such as lethargy, fluffy feathers, face, crest, or dewlap swelling with dark coloration, running noses or diarrhea or already-dead chicken for butchering.

                • Do not hold poultry such as chicken, duck, goose etc. waiting for butchering in the cages, placed near each other. The setting will be at risk  because it increases the chance of virus mutation which will become a new strain, harming both animal and human.

                • Clean holding cages and equipment frequently with detergent solution and dry in the sunlight. Sequentially, disinfectants should be applied once or twice monthly.

                • Should  the butchered meats have unusual appearances such as hemorrhagic spots, serous or bloody edema or white necrosis spots, the offal or meat has abnormal color, then they should be discarded. The Department of Livestock Development worker should be notified immediately for prompt investigation of possible avian influenza outbreak.

                • Clean the butchered areas with detergent solution after butchering and pour in disinfectants once or twice monthly.

                • Self-care should be observed by using personal protection equipment such as plastic apron, mask, gloves, goggles, boots. Wash hands frequently.

                • Take a bath with water and soap and change clothes after work. Changed clothes, used plastic apron, mask, gloves, and goggles should be laundry or clean and dry in the sunlight before re-use.

Poultry transporter:

                • Do not purchase chicken from the farm that the abnormal dead chicken had been reported.

                • After daily transports, clean the vehicle with detergent solution. For cages, also spray disinfectants after cleaning.

                • Self-Care should be observed by using personal protection equipment such as mask, gloves, boots and wash hands frequently.

                • Take a bath with water and soap and change clothes after work. Changed clothes, used plastic apron, mask, gloves, and goggles should be laundry or clean and dry in the sunlight before re-use.

Poultry farmer:

                • Should any sick or dead chicken occur by any causes, notify local livestock worker immediately. Do not distribute sick or dead chicken for sale. Follow the authority advice strictly to prevent the transmission of disease either to animal or human.