Thai fighting cocks to be registered
NST, 22 Nov 2005

BANGKOK, Mon. --- Thailand has ordered that millions of fighting cocks be registered with the Government by the end of the year in a bid to curb the deadly avian flu, officials said today.

Livestock Development Director-General Yukol Limlamthong said the Agriculture Ministry will require people who raise fighting cocks to register their birds by Dec 31.

“It is one of the efforts to control the avian influenza”, Yukol said, adding, though, that there is no punishment for failing to register.

So far, only 40,000 of an estimated 12 million such birds have been registered as Thailand has struggled to eradicate the disease, which has killed more than 60people in Southeast Asia since 2003.

In Thailand alone, the deadly H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus has killed 13 people.

Last year, a transport ban and fighting cock “passports” were among measures introduced by Thailand to try to prevent the birds spreading the disease while being taken across the country for fights.

Health officials warned that fighting cock handlers were particularly at risk because training required extensive contact with the birds.

Scientists warn that continued contact between infected birds and humans may eventually result in the virus mutating into a form that could be easily passed on by humans, sparking a pandemic that could kill millions. --- AFP.