Thai PM in bird flu 'cover-up' | BBC

[Ediacara]

Thai PM in bird flu 'cover-up'


The Thai PM is accused of
a cover-up

Thailand's Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has admitted that his government suspected an outbreak of avian flu about two weeks ago.

Mr Thaksin told reporters he had decided not to tell the public until Friday to avoid causing mass panic.

He has ordered troops to help a cull of chickens to stop the disease spreading.

Bird flu has spread to two more regions of Thailand while Indonesia revealed it too had an outbreak, though officials there said it had not spread to humans.

Amid growing criticism of its handling of the disease, Thailand has invited other Asian nations hit by the crisis to an emergency summit this week.

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