Beginning in January 2004, outbreaks of avian influenza A (H5N1), a serious viral infection, were reported among poultry in Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, South Korea, Thailand and Viet-Nam. The virus was responsible for 34 reported human illnesses and 23 deaths in Viet-Nam and Thailand.
More than 100 million birds in Asia either died of the disease or were culled. In April 2004, Thailand and Indonesia continued to report H5N1 in a few poultry farms; however, according to the World Health Organization, since March 17 in Thailand and since March 22 in Viet-Nam no human cases of H5N1 have been reported.
For info, visit www.cdc.gov/flu/avian/embargo.htm, www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/en and www.oie.int.