Cock Fighting Suspended Over Bird Flu [View All]

[matcom]

NO SEX THREADS! :D

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BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai fans of cock fighting, a sport popular in both town and countryside, will have to wait to place their next bet until the bird flu epidemic is over, the government said Tuesday.

Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphana said cock fighting had been banned temporarily because of fears the birds were often taken long distances to their sand-pit arenas and might spread the avian influenza which has now hit 10 Asian countries.

The bird flu, which has killed at least 12 people in Vietnam and Thailand, had been spread to southern Thailand by fighting cocks transported there from areas with major outbreaks in the north and center of the country, she told reporters.

"Outbreaks in some areas, which should not have caught the disease, were caused by movements of fighting cocks," Sudarat said. "Therefore the cabinet decided today to ban cock fighting until the epidemic is over."

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