Thai public health officials confirmed Saturday a 27-year-old man had died of bird flu in lower central province Uthai Thani, the country's second death this year and its 16th victim to the deadly H5N1 virus since its outbreak in 2004, according to Thai media reports.

The man died on Thursday in Sawang Arom district, Uthai Thani province, about 200 kilometers north of Bangkok, after killing and burying sick chickens on his farm without protection, said Thawat Suntrajarn, director-general of the Department of Communicable Disease Control under the Public Health Ministry, quoted by Bangkok Post on Saturday.

Thailand has stepped up surveillance after a 17-year-old boy died from bird flu in northern Phichit province late July as the first fatality from the disease this year.

The 27-year-old man's wife was not sick, but was being monitored after she cooked and ate some of the dead birds, Thawat said.

Farmers in Thailand have been required to inform the authorities immediately once upon any suspicious death or sickness of their birds or otherwise face harsh punishment.

Source: Xinhua