Inquiry into whether bird flu killed cattle

THAILAND launched a probe yesterday into whether bird flu killed scores of cattle, while health experts said migratory birds, fighting cocks and farmers’ lorries could be behind the disease’s persistent spread through Asia.

None of the eight Asian countries struck by the deadlier strain of avian influenza that has decimated poultry and killed 22 people have managed to control their outbreaks despite intense efforts by many of them, the World Health Organisation said. More than 80 million chickens and other fowl have been slaughtered to contain the disease.

WHO warned prospects for quickly wiping out the H5N1 strain highly contagious among birds but not yet shown to easily pass between people have worsened. The virus has only jumped to humans in Thailand where it has killed seven people and Vietnam, where 15 people have died.