Myanmar lifts media blackout on bird flu

0 Comments | AFP, March, 2006

MANDALAY, Myanmar (AFP) — Myanmar's secretive military rulers have lifted a news blackout on the country's first known outbreak of bird flu and sought international help to contain the spread of the lethal virus.

State-run media for the first time released details about bird flu and preventive measures against the H5N1 virus, which was confirmed in poultry Monday in the central town of Mandalay.

Since the outbreak, health authorities have slaughtered 12,500 chickens and quarantined 43 farms near Mandalay, 700 kilometers (450 miles) north of Yangon.

"We are continuing monitoring the situation very closely," the junta's top veterinary official Than Hla told AFP, adding that so far no human cases have been detected.

Ba Thein, deputy chief of animal...