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CNN Live At Daybreak

Thai Outbreak of Bird Flu

Aired January 23, 2004 - 06:32   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: The fast-spreading bird flu is now confirmed in Thailand, and countries are wasting no time in banning poultry imports from there.
Our Bangkok bureau chief, Tom Mintier, joins us over the phone with the very latest -- Tom.

TOM MINTIER, CNN BANGKOK BUREAU CHIEF: Fredricka, they have been falling like dominoes -- the French, Hong Kong. The European Union was the latest group to announce that they would ban the importing of chickens.

The French said any chicken from Thailand that has a stamp after January 1 will be impounded. They say most of the chicken on the shelves was dated before January 1, so they say that the chickens will not get into the supply.

But there are two human cases confirmed here in Thailand of bird flu -- people that are hospitalized with this, people that the government says had direct contact with chickens.

There is a cull under way in the country, where they killed in the last 24 hours at least one million chickens. Possibly another five or six in the next few days will be put to death.

But they're attempting to try to stop this bird flu in its tracks here in Thailand. Thailand joins Vietnam with the human transmission, with cases of individuals in the hospital, in addition to an economic problem.

The government here has basically denied for the last week that they had bird flu, but today, with the medical tests moving forward, they could do nothing but acknowledge that it did exist here.

It's going to have a severe economic impact. The deputy agricultural minister said more than 600,000 families make a living by growing chickens, and their income will be cut severely over the next few days, few weeks, few months. It may take a long time to get chicken back on the menu outside of Asia, but for here, for now, it's going to be serious problem.

The Thai prime minister was accused by some of trying to sweep this under the carpet for economic reasons. A good indication is the Thai stock market late this afternoon, those companies that sold chicken down 20 percent -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Wow! Tremendous. Tom Mintier, thanks very much. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.






Aired January 23, 2004 - 06:32   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: The fast-spreading bird flu is now confirmed in Thailand, and countries are wasting no time in banning poultry imports from there.
Our Bangkok bureau chief, Tom Mintier, joins us over the phone with the very latest -- Tom.

TOM MINTIER, CNN BANGKOK BUREAU CHIEF: Fredricka, they have been falling like dominoes -- the French, Hong Kong. The European Union was the latest group to announce that they would ban the importing of chickens.

The French said any chicken from Thailand that has a stamp after January 1 will be impounded. They say most of the chicken on the shelves was dated before January 1, so they say that the chickens will not get into the supply.

But there are two human cases confirmed here in Thailand of bird flu -- people that are hospitalized with this, people that the government says had direct contact with chickens.

There is a cull under way in the country, where they killed in the last 24 hours at least one million chickens. Possibly another five or six in the next few days will be put to death.

But they're attempting to try to stop this bird flu in its tracks here in Thailand. Thailand joins Vietnam with the human transmission, with cases of individuals in the hospital, in addition to an economic problem.

The government here has basically denied for the last week that they had bird flu, but today, with the medical tests moving forward, they could do nothing but acknowledge that it did exist here.

It's going to have a severe economic impact. The deputy agricultural minister said more than 600,000 families make a living by growing chickens, and their income will be cut severely over the next few days, few weeks, few months. It may take a long time to get chicken back on the menu outside of Asia, but for here, for now, it's going to be serious problem.

The Thai prime minister was accused by some of trying to sweep this under the carpet for economic reasons. A good indication is the Thai stock market late this afternoon, those companies that sold chicken down 20 percent -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Wow! Tremendous. Tom Mintier, thanks very much. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.