Bird flu may have killed cattle

Thailand launched a probe today 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, despite massive culls.

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.