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FACTBOX-Bird flu outbreak in Asia

Asia is grappling with an outbreak of bird flu virus that has killed 8 people -- 6 in Vietnam and 2 in Thailand.

The following are facts about the outbreak that has spread to Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Taiwan, Indonesia, Pakistan, Laos, and China.
Some of these countries have confirmed an outbreak of the H5N1 strain of the virus, which can affect humans, while Taiwan said it had only seen a milder strain, H5N2 [& Pakistan says it's strain is H7].

THAILAND [1st official notification 23 Jan 2004, A/H5N1]

- The virus has killed 2 young boys in Thailand.
- Thailand has the 4th-largest chicken industry in the world, with annual exports worth USD 1.5 billion. It has destroyed around 10 million chickens.

- Japan and the European Union, Thailand's 2 biggest customers, have banned its poultry.

- The industry contributes about one percent to the country's GDP. About 81 000 families rely on the industry for a living. The industry employs hundreds of thousands of people on 30 000 poultry farms and in related industries, such as animal feed.

VIETNAM [1st official notification 9 Jan 2004, A/H5N1]

- 6 people, including 5 children, have been confirmed killed by avian flu. 5 of the cases were from north Vietnam, one from Ho Chi Minh City in the south.

- An estimated 3.8 million chickens have been slaughtered or killed by the virus. Not a major exporter of poultry.

SOUTH KOREA [1st official notification 12 Dec 2003, AH5N1]

- South Korea has slaughtered almost 2.5 million of its 108 million poultry after finding bird flu in 16 farms since the outbreak was first reported on 10 Dec 2003.
- South Korea's livestock industry makes up around 0.4 percent of the country's gross domestic product.

JAPAN [1st official notification 16 Jan 2004, H5N1]

- One farm in Yamaguchi prefecture, southwest Japan, has been hit by an outbreak of bird flu. All the roughly 34 600 chickens on the farm have either died of bird flu or been slaughtered.

- The output of Japan's chicken industry in 2001 was 670 billion yen, around 0.1 percent of the country's gross domestic product that year.

TAIWAN [1st reports 15 Jan 2004, Low pathogenic A/H5N2, no official notification required. see 20040118.0202]

- Taiwan is fighting the outbreak of a lesser strain of the avian flu, H5N2. It has slaughtered 55 000 chickens since the flu was discovered earlier in January 2004.

- Taiwan produced chickens and eggs worth T$37 billion (US$1.1 billion) in 2002, contributing about 0.4 percent to GDP.

INDONESIA [1st rumors 19 Nov 2003, see 20031119.2872; 1st official confirmation to press, 26 Jan 2004, indicating H5N1 since Nov-Dec 2003, see
20040126.0308; no official notification to date].

- Some 4.7 million chickens have died since November 2003. Officials said 40 percent were infected with both avian influenza and Newcastle disease.

- At least 400 farms spread throughout the vast archipelago have been affected by the outbreak.

CAMBODIA [1st official notification 24 Jan 2004, A/H5N1]

- The poultry sector in Cambodia is relatively small.

PAKISTAN [1st official notification 28 Jan 2004, "H7 strain"]

- The outbreak has killed up to 2 million birds, but officials say the strains detected are less harmful to humans than elsewhere in Asia.

LAOS [1st official notification 27 Jan 2004, H5; final identification pending]

- One confirmed outbreak of bird flu. Some 3500 chickens have died close to the capital, Vientiane, since 14 Jan 2004.

CHINA [1st official notification 28 Jan 2004, H5N1]

- One outbreak of bird flu confirmed on a farm in southern Guangxi. China has begun slaughtering all fowl within 6 km (4 miles) of a suburban farm in the southern province of Hunan where authorities are investigating the deaths of chickens from suspected bird flu.