March 16, 2006
BBC.co.uk

Burma lifts blackout on bird flu

Burma has lifted a media blackout on an outbreak on bird flu, as a UN agency confirmed the H5N1 virus had been found in chickens in the country. Burma's state media carried reports on Thursday that more than 5,000 birds had been culled in response. The reports said a ban on the sale of chickens and poultry products was also in place in the Mandalay region, where the infections were found. Malaysia also reported two new outbreaks of H5N1 in birds. The international community found out that Burma had been hit by bird flu on Monday, when it told the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) that it had detected the first outbreak of bird flu in poultry in the central town of Mandalay, 700km (450 miles) north of Rangoon.