A 5-year-old boy in Thai Nakhon Nayok province outside Bangkok has died of bird flu, becoming the 14th Thai victim of avian influenza, local media reported Saturday.

News of the death of the youngster came as a shock. Thailand has been largely free of bird flu in the past two months, since a small outbreak killed a man last October, the Bangkok Post said on its web edition.

The boy died in hospital on Wednesday, Thai Deputy Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakula was quoted as saying. He was not known to have had direct contact with chickens, but investigations are continuing.

The death brings the Asian death toll from H5N1 avian flu to 70.

Source: Xinhuaent of heavy mortality of poultry in Navapur village of Nandurbar district to Indian government's Animal Husbandry Department here on Feb. 10.

Initial post-mortem analysis of two dead birds indicated that the cause of death could be a form of avian flu that has surfaced in 7 countries and taken toll of scores of lives.

Investigations were being done currently at the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory in Bhopal in central India for further testing and confirmation, according to Indian animal husbandry department officials.

The Indian government and health authorities have stepped up vigil in all parts of the country for timely reporting cases of large-scale deaths of birds so as to take prompt action.

Source: Xinhua