Bird flu has broken out in Dawei, Myanmar’s southern Tanitharyi coastal region, said Myanmar authorities on July 26, while the country recorded three deaths of H1N1 influenza, also known as swine flu.

People wearing masks to prevent infectious diseases that have broken out in Myanmar (Photo: EPA/VNA)

The bird flu virus was detected at some farms in Dawei, 370 km southeast of Yangon, following unusual death of chickens, the Ministry of Health and Sports of Myanmar said in a statement. Samples of dead chickens, sent to Yangon laboratory for test, have proved the outbreak.

More than 1,800 chickens were culled to prevent the spread of the virus. Local authorities also prohibited sale of eggs and chicken in Dawei’s markets.

Bird flu has occurred in other places of Myanmar for eight times but the outbreak in Tanintharyi was the first time.

Meanwhile, three people in Myanmar have died of swine flu. Two of them died at a hospital in Yangon, confirmed to be due to the H1N1 virus, while a suspected swine flu death of a six-year-old boy was reported in the remote ethnic Chin state.

Health officials said that there are 13 people confirmed to have H1N1 in Myanmar, with three of them receiving treatment at Yangon General Hospital and the 10 other in the Chin state.

H1N1 infections have been observed in Myanmar every year since 2009, with a peak topping 100 cases several years ago. The country is currently in its annual monsoon period, the season in which flu is most common.

(Source: VNA)