Officials: 100 ducks die in northern Cambodia; cause not bird flu

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) - More than 100 ducks died two weeks ago in
northern Cambodia from an illness that wasn't bird-flu related,
officials said Friday.

Test results on the ducks came back negative for avian influenza, said
Sorn San, head of the national animal health and production
investigation center. No humans were affected by the illness.

The ducks died of "natural causes," officials said without elaborating.

Two families owned the ducks, keeping them in cages in Battambang
province. One owner told authorities that some of his fowl fell ill
with diarrhea, while others experienced weakness in their legs, said
Chea Chan Sophorn, the province's agriculture director.

The sick ducks were bought in two provinces near Vietnam, he said.

Agricultural officials have sprayed areas in Battambang with anti-viral
medicines and were monitoring the situation.

Bird flu has claimed 63 lives in Asia - mostly in Vietnam, Thailand and
Indonesia - and ravaged the region's poultry stocks. Four Cambodians
have died from the disease.

Battambang is 250 kilometers (155 miles) northwest of the Cambodian
capital, Phnom Penh.


09/23/05 01:02 EDT


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