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CNN Live At Daybreak
Bird Flu Fears: Asian Countries Take Steps to Stop Spread
Aired February 04, 2004 - 06:14 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: In Asia, the human death toll from the Bird Flu rises to 14. And the World Health Organization says the battle against the disease is seeming -- is seeing more losses than wins.
Our Bangkok bureau chief Tom Mintier joins us live via videophone from Thailand.
Good morning -- Tom.
TOM MINTIER, CNN BANGKOK BUREAU CHIEF: Good morning, Carol.
Five of those deaths have occurred in Thailand. Within the last hour, the Thai health minister confirming the death of a 6-year-old boy from Bird Flu. That brings the total number of cases to five fatalities in Thailand. There are 18 suspect cases, 9 of which have already died.
There are also believed to be 11 fatalities in Vietnam, in the northern part of the -- middle of the country, even in the southern part of the country. So health officials are concerned in the two countries that have reported human cases of Bird Flu and fatalities, both Vietnam and Thailand.
But the disease has spread throughout most of Asia. The Food and Agricultural Organization estimates that more than 50 million chickens have been slaughtered in all of the countries across that do have confirmed cases of Bird Flu.
Also late this afternoon another confirmed case apparently in China. Now China worries many health officials because they have not reported any cases in humans yet and there is concern that the disease has been in China for some time and that there may have been human fatalities that have not been reported yet. So health officials zeroing in on China and a great deal of concern there -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Kind of a business question for you now, Tom, how long will the world market be closed to Thai chicken?
MINTIER: Well that's really difficult to predict. The European Union has imposed a ban on chicken, whole chickens and chickens from Thailand. Japan has imposed an entire ban, a moratorium. Now cooked chickens can still be exported to the European Union provided it is certified as it has cooked over 70 degrees centigrade.
Now here in Thailand for the last couple of days they have been serving free chicken at outlets all across the country trying to get consumers domestically to come back to the product. But there are already 1,000 containers on the way back to Thailand from countries that have refused to accept them.
Now the commerce minister in Thailand says that our markets need to be reopened to certified chicken that is safe and is threatening retaliation if countries bar the import of Thai chicken after it has been certified safe. But as of right now, the bans in the European Union and Japan are still in place.
COSTELLO: Well you can understand why people wouldn't want to eat chicken from Thailand right at this moment.
Tom Mintier reporting live from Bangkok this morning.
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 February 4, 2004 - 06:14 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: In Asia, the human death toll from the Bird Flu rises to 14. And the World Health Organization says the battle against the disease is seeming -- is seeing more losses than wins.
Our Bangkok bureau chief Tom Mintier joins us live via videophone from Thailand.
Good morning -- Tom.
TOM MINTIER, CNN BANGKOK BUREAU CHIEF: Good morning, Carol.
Five of those deaths have occurred in Thailand. Within the last hour, the Thai health minister confirming the death of a 6-year-old boy from Bird Flu. That brings the total number of cases to five fatalities in Thailand. There are 18 suspect cases, 9 of which have already died.
There are also believed to be 11 fatalities in Vietnam, in the northern part of the -- middle of the country, even in the southern part of the country. So health officials are concerned in the two countries that have reported human cases of Bird Flu and fatalities, both Vietnam and Thailand.
But the disease has spread throughout most of Asia. The Food and Agricultural Organization estimates that more than 50 million chickens have been slaughtered in all of the countries across that do have confirmed cases of Bird Flu.
Also late this afternoon another confirmed case apparently in China. Now China worries many health officials because they have not reported any cases in humans yet and there is concern that the disease has been in China for some time and that there may have been human fatalities that have not been reported yet. So health officials zeroing in on China and a great deal of concern there -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Kind of a business question for you now, Tom, how long will the world market be closed to Thai chicken?
MINTIER: Well that's really difficult to predict. The European Union has imposed a ban on chicken, whole chickens and chickens from Thailand. Japan has imposed an entire ban, a moratorium. Now cooked chickens can still be exported to the European Union provided it is certified as it has cooked over 70 degrees centigrade.
Now here in Thailand for the last couple of days they have been serving free chicken at outlets all across the country trying to get consumers domestically to come back to the product. But there are already 1,000 containers on the way back to Thailand from countries that have refused to accept them.
Now the commerce minister in Thailand says that our markets need to be reopened to certified chicken that is safe and is threatening retaliation if countries bar the import of Thai chicken after it has been certified safe. But as of right now, the bans in the European Union and Japan are still in place.
COSTELLO: Well you can understand why people wouldn't want to eat chicken from Thailand right at this moment.
Tom Mintier reporting live from Bangkok this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
