AVIAN INFLUENZA AND FIGHTING COCKS IN THAILAND

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BANGKOK 004613 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR G/AIAG/JLANGE DEPARTMENT FOR OES/STC/MGOLDBERG AND PBATES DEPARTMENT FOR OES/PCI ANNE COVINGTON DEPARTMENT FOR OES/IHA/DSINGER AND NCOMELLA DEPARTMENT PASS TO USAID/ANE/CLEMENTS AND GH/CARROLL DEPARTMENT PASS CDC ATLANTA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR OSEC AND APHIS DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR FAS/DLP/HWETZEL AND FAS/ICD/LAIDIG DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE FOR OSD/ISA/AP FOR LEW STERN PARIS FOR FAS/AG MINISTER COUNSELOR/OIE ROME FOR FAO E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: TBIO EAGR KFLU PGOV PREL SOCI XE SUBJECT: AVIAN INFLUENZA AND FIGHTING COCKS IN THAILAND REF: BANGKOK 4530 BANGKOK 00004613 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. In a public address on July 26, Prime Minister Thaksin said it was imperative that local villagers report unusual poultry deaths to and register all fighting cocks with authorities. Thaksin said, "The case in Phichit (Province) is that villagers wanted to get rid of all their dead chickens on their own because they were afraid the authorities would cull the rest of their birds." Referring to the 17-year-old boy who died earlier in the week, Thailand's first human case of H5N1 avian influenza in more than eight months, Thaksin said, "He had been in contact with fighting cocks, which were not declared for fear they would be culled by authorities." Poultry die-offs have been occurring in Thailand's central and north central provinces for over a month, but many farmers and householders bury their dead chickens without informing the authorities, making it impossible to obtain fresh specimens for laboratory testing. So far, the only bird that has tested positive for the H5N1 virus was the carcass of a fighting cock in Phichit Province. ¶2. Thaksin's comments point out a situation that may be unique to Thailand and that may account for some farmers' unwillingness to report poultry deaths. Many households in Thailand raise fighting cocks, which can be worth thousands of dollars, along with free-range chickens. Thailand has a program for compensating farmers for culled chickens, but working out a method for evaluation and compensation of fighting cocks is more problematic. ¶3. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and BANGKOK 00004613 002.2 OF 002 Cooperatives, Thailand has as estimated one million fighting cocks, but less than 50,000 are registered. Although Thailand vaccinates fighting cocks and even issues them passports with their vaccination records so they can travel, much of the trade in fighting cocks is illegal, and thus movement of these birds is often kept hidden. In September 2005, provincial authorities in Kamphaeng Phet, which borders Phichit Province, blamed a poultry outbreak there on the clandestine movement of H5N1-infected fighting cocks within the province. Several of Thailand's 2005 reports to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) include fighting cocks in their description of affected populations in poultry outbreaks in the central and north central provinces. ¶4. Fighting cocks may play a role in avian influenza across borders as well. In 2004, in Kota Baru, Malaysia, several fighting cocks that died of H5N1 infection were thought to have been smuggled into the country from Thailand. Indonesia's March 10, 2005, report to the OIE of a poultry outbreak states the source of the outbreak as the "illegal movement of animals from neighboring countries (imported fighting cocks)." ¶5. Comment: Fighting cocks appear to play some role - perhaps an important role - in the avian influenza milieu; more attention should be paid to studying that role, and more effort should be placed on controlling their movements, but because of the secretiveness associated with them, that will be a difficult task. ARVIZU