BANGKOK, Jan. 29 (Xinhuanet) -- At least 10 more provinces in Thailand are to be declared as bird flu epidemic zones after the remaining 30,000 chicken samples to be tested in three days, said a Thai official.

    Newin Chidchob, the deputy agriculture minister, said that the Agriculture Ministry had gathered 100,000 poultry samples all overthe country, 70,000 of the samples had undergone lab test, the Bangkokbiznews.com reported Thursday.

    He warned that the test results could show that poultry from atleast 10 more provinces had infected bird flu virus, that meant atleast another 10 provinces would be declared as bird flu control zones.

    The 10 provinces would add to 35 the total number of bird flu epidemic zones, where all poultry within a five-kilometer radius of areas where infected birds had been detected would be killed and transporting chickens within a 50-kilometer radius would be banned.

    The Thai government had declared 25 provinces, particularly in the lower northern region, affected by the epidemic, and had implemented strict culling measures in these places since the Kingdom confirmed the first bird flu case on Jan. 23.

    Newin revealed that most of the 10 provinces were located in the northeast, where fighting cocks bred by local residents were main source of the epidemic.

    The official called on local residents to cooperate with the government to kill their expensive pets, otherwise, they would be fined 10,000 baht and be put into prison for one year.

    Thailand has destroyed more than 10 million chickens in an effort to control the bird flu outbreak, while three persons have been confirmed and 11 others been suspected infected by the virus so far, two of the three confirmed cases and five of the 11 suspected cases have died. Enditem