Poultry farmers in Thailand have been warned to be on alert after the World Health Organization (WHO) reported the re-emergence of H5N6 bird flu in China, with five people infected, two of whom have died.

Thailand’s Livestock Development Department Director-General Sorravis Thaneto said yesterday (Monday) that, after having received the WHO report, the department immediately made preparations to prevent the highly-contagious disease from entering the country, even though no cases of bird flu have been detected in Thailand in the past 12 years.

As part of the precautionary measures, he said officials from the department have been visiting poultry farmers to advise them of the steps to be taken, such as cleaning and disinfecting their farms at least once a week, controlling the movement of their poultry in and out of the farms and disinfecting every vehicle entering and leaving the farms.

Poultry farmers have also been asked to monitor the condition of their birds closely and to report immediately to the nearest livestock office in their areas if any fall sick, he said, adding that farmers should refrain from consuming or distributing the sick birds and, if they have any questions, they can contact their nearest livestock office or call the department’s hotline on 06-3225-6888.

Sorravis also said that livestock officials will collect samples from poultry farms located along the borders with neighbouring countries and from migratory birds at their feeding and spawning grounds to discover if any are carrying bird flu.