Less than a week after a 48-year- old man in the Thai central province of Kanchanaburi became the 13th person in Thailand to die from bird flu, local authorities reported Sunday that another patient may be infected with the potentially deadly virus.

The patient was identified only as a villager who lives in Phanom Tuan district where Bang-orn Benpad died of the disease last Wednesday and where his son also contracted the H5N1 virus.

The dead man was said to have slaughtered and eaten a sick bird in his home province, where avian flu outbreaks were reported last week.

Sayan Bhuranawanich, acting director of Kanchanaburi's Phahon Phonpayuhasena Hospital, said the patient is under medical supervision and is separated from other patients.

Local livestock officials culled more than 4,000 chickens in ten villages in the district after there were reports that more chickens and ducks died, the Thai News Agency said.

Meanwhile, local health authorities in central Nonthaburi province were on alert for fear that bird flu virus might spread after a number of construction workers ate chickens which died suspiciously.

Pubic health officials and officials from the Livestock Development Department jointly inspected the area of Bang Bua Thong district following a report that many chickens died Saturday and that a number of construction workers cooked and ate them.

The officials ordered all chickens in the area destroyed and disinfectant was sprayed to prevent the possible spread of the avian influenza.

While initial tests on the workers and their families were negative, they were asked to undergo further tests in the next five days.

Source: Xinhua