The resident office of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Monday it has received official report from the Myanmar authorities that H5N1 bird flu was detected among 400 dead chickens in Mandalay, northern Myanmar.

The Myanmar authorities said the chickens were found dead on March 8 in Mandalay and the H5N1 virus was detected among them when examination was made and the sample of the test has been sent to the international bird flu examination center for further confirmation.

This is the first time that Myanmar has detected the avian influenza virus.

Since renewed outbreak of bird flu in some Southeast Asian nations was reported in September 2004, Myanmar has stepped up precautionary measures against the disease which include alerting farmers to report any unusual increase in mortality rate among poultry.

There are 63 million chickens in Myanmar, of which 50 million are bred outdoor in rural areas.

Meanwhile, Myanmar joined in signing last November a declaration on partnership in combating avian influenza and other infectious diseases at the Second Ayayawaddy-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACES) Summit held in Bangkok, Thailand involving Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.

Source: Xinhua