Chairing a meeting of agencies responsible for bird flu control, Charal, director of the government's command center on avian influenza, said efficiency in bird flu prevention must be fine-tuned as the season is approaching for migratory birds, which might carry the H5N1 virus to pass through Thailand.

    He noted that it has been discovered that local residents in several areas have been reluctant to disclose, or even covered up information about poultry which died of unidentified causes.

    To strengthen prevention, Livestock Development Department chief Yukol Limlamthong said, agricultural volunteers have been deployed in a bid to help public health volunteers to monitor bird flu outbreaks, and thorough local inspections and the examinations for bird flu in vulnerable areas nationwide will be resumed in October.

    Meanwhile, the department will soon submit its budget to the caretaker cabinet for promoting safer poultry husbandry, with 200,000 baht (about 5300 U.S. dollar) to be allocated for farmers in each sub-district nationwide, he said. Enditem