Voluntary Report - public distribution

**Date:** 3/16/2005

**GAIN Report Number:** BM5006

BM5006

**Burma**

**Poultry and Products**

**Avian Influenza**

**2005**

**Approved by:**

![](media/image1.wmf)Russ Nicely, Acting Agricultural Counselor

U.S. Embassy, Bangkok

**Prepared by:**

Daphne Khin Swe Swe Aye, Agricultural Specialist

**Report Highlights:**

The Burmese business magazine BIG reported in the 14 March 2005 issue
that Government officials were implementing "serious measures to prevent
and eliminate" Avian Influenza (AI) from three border towns near
Thailand. If accurate, this is the first report of the appearance of AI
in Burma. Post is unable to independently confirm this report. The
initial outbreak in the region of early 2004 hurt the Burmese poultry
industry by drying up the supply of day-old chicks from Thailand. Burma
produces about 63 million birds on an annualized basis, mostly
smallholder production, with a few low-tech commercial operations.

Includes PSD Changes: No

Includes Trade Matrix: No

Unscheduled Report

Bangkok \[TH1\]

\[BM\]

Situation Overview

The Burmese business magazine BIG, dated 15 March 2005, reported that
the Government of Burma was "taking serious measures to prevent and
eliminate" Avian Influenza (AI) from Kawthoung, Myawaddy, and Tachileik,
all towns with border crossings into Thailand. If accurate, this is the
first public report indicating AI is present in Burma that has appeared
since the regional outbreak beginning in early 2004. Post is unable to
independently confirm this report. Until this report Burma has had no
reports of AI in the internal press and Government of Burma (GOB)
officials have declared Burma free of the disease. Burma appears to have
been largely unaffected by the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI)
epidemic that occurred in early 2004, even though neighboring countries
were seriously affected.

Burma has a relatively small bird population with sparse density as
compared to the neighboring countries, and actions taken by the GOB to
seal its borders and ban poultry imports from HPAI-infected countries
may have delayed HPAI's arrival in Burma. Transmission of HPAI in other
countries has been reported to occur most easily in concentrated bird
populations, and migratory wild birds are increasingly being ruled out
as a primary disease vector. As unlikely as it may seem, it is plausible
to conclude that HPAI may have yet to appear in a widespread fashion in
Burma. The towns mentioned in the BIG report are all border towns where
most of the border trade between Burma and Thailand occurs.

Burma's poultry sector faced some serious consequences as a result of
the regional 2004 HPAI outbreak. Burma's poultry sector faced shortages
of day old chicks due to import bans, and poultry farmers encountered
great difficulty in replenishing stocks of day old chicks
(boilers/layers). Prices of imported day old chicks increased after the
ban, but bird prices remained depressed in markets around the country.
Even though recently poultry prices have strengthened in the domestic
market, farmers have not been able to cover their costs due to the
increased pricing for day old chicks. Unusually, the prices of the eggs
in the market were not affected by the HPAI outbreak.

Avian Flu Outbreak

In December 2003, news began to spread in Thailand about a possible AI
epidemic occurring there, the eastern neighbor of Burma. At that time,
the majority of the people in Burma were unaware of the outbreak in
Thailand due to a weak domestic press, and no signs of a similar disease
outbreak were to be seen in Burma. The usual causes of mass fatality
among poultry in Burma at this time of year, the cold season, are
Newcastle disease and Fowl Cholera. In January 2004, there were reports
of a flock of crows dying in Moulmein, Mon State, from unknown causes.
Rumors began to circulate that the crows were infected with avian flu
from Thailand. After inspection by officials from the Livestock Breeding
and Veterinary Department (LBVD), it was reported that the crows were
actually poisoned. The next event rumored to be related to AI was a case
of a human death in Madaya Township, in the central area of Burma. After
inspection by GOB health authorities, it was reported that the cause of
death was dengue hemorrhagic fever. As the news continued to spread
about the outbreaks of AI in Thailand and also in Vietnam, with a number
of people dying in each of these countries, the majority of people in
Burma came to realize the serious threat avian flu posed to human health
and began to refrain from consuming poultry meat.

Demand Drops, and Burma Bans Imports

As the human death toll from HPAI climbed, demand for poultry meat began
to fall in Burma to a level low enough so that poultry farmers could not
cover the cost of production. Most Burmese prefer local poultry meat
instead of commercially raised broiler meat, and consequently, local
poultry meat is much more expensive than that of broilers. Additionally,
some people believed that local breeds of poultry are immune to AI, but,
as the epidemic heightened in January, many people turned away from
poultry meant and most poultry meat stalls in markets began to close
down.

As the epidemic continued outside Burma, a senior government official
stated in the Myanma Times dated January 14-25 Volume 10, No: 200, 2004,
that Burma was free from AI. Since Burma historically imported day old
chicks (layers and broilers), eggs, breeders, and Parent Stock (PS) from
Thailand, Malaysia and China, the GOB decided to ban all imports of
poultry from AI infected countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, China,
Vietnam, the Netherlands, and others. An additional precautionary
measure taken by the GOB was to ban the import of end products of foods
derived from poultry. This ban is still in place at the time of the
report.

Additional Measures Taken

In January 2004, the head office of the LBVD, in collaboration with the
respective local authorities, met with officials from the Border Trade
Department and Customs Department to put in place a plan of action to
implement a poultry import ban. The State- and Division-level LBVD
offices were instructed to take preventive measures against an outbreak
of AI. The LBVD officials were to closely watch and monitor the border
towns close to Thailand, such as Myawaddy, Three Pagodas Pass,
Kawthoung, Tacheliek, and Muse, a border town near China. The officials
of the LBVD head office also met with regional Myanmar Livestock
Breeding Organizations to provide educational information on preventive
measures to take against the disease to the breeders. The LBVD officials
paid special attention to the broiler and layer operations that are
working on a commercial scale. (In Burma commercial scale means more
than 1,000 birds per farm.) Poultry farms located in border areas were
put on constant alert to signs of disease, as they could be among the
first to be impacted. Border gates at Myawaddy, Three Pagodas Pass,
Kawthoung, Tacheliek, and Muse allowed only trade in poultry that had
recommendations from the Border Areas Laboratory on Control of Animal
Disease working under the LBVD. Poultry shipments not in possession of
health certificates in compliance with the standards set by the LBVD
were reported to be automatically rejected by the border officials.

To further prevent AI, LBVD advised breeders to feed their flocks three
native plants - sesbania grandiflora, leucaena glauca and cymbopogon
cetratus - to increase their flocks' resistance to the virus. They were
also told to be on constant vigil against the spread of the lethal
disease.

The Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries, in cooperation with the
Ministry of Health, formed avian flu inspections teams all over the
country. Sources reported that the inspection committee checked about
9.4 million chickens at nearly 9,900 poultry farms across the country to
identify any possible outbreaks of AI. None of the farms were reported
to have experienced AI. Other measures include inspection of day-old
chickens suppliers starting in February 2004. Additional measures taken
by the GOB include the inspection of food service locations - hotels,
restaurants, and barbeque shops, inspection of the health condition of
restaurant personnel, and providing other necessary assistance in proper
cooking and sanitary practices. 451 hotels, restaurants, and barbeque
shops were inspected as of October 10, 2004.

With the objective of prevention of the spread of AI in Burma, the GOB
held 137 workshops on AI, inviting wholesalers and farmers in all 14
States and Divisions to participate.

The office of the Director General of the LBVD issued notifications on
the breeding of day old chicks and eggs, listing the following actions
to be taken:

(1) Scrutinization must be made on illegal imported chickens and
    breeding. If the imported chickens are infected with AI, these must
    be destroyed and buried in pits six feet in depth. Chicken farms
    that bred those illegal chickens must spray disinfectant
    systematically at their own cost;

(2) Concerned authorities would inspect farms that are engaged in the
    illegal breeding of illegal chickens. They would close the
    incubators and destroy the illegal eggs completely and bury the
    destroyed chickens and eggs in six ft. deep pits;

(3) The entrepreneurs involved in illegal poultry imports would be
    blacklisted and actions against them would be taken in line with the
    Health Animal Breeding and Development Law.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization is providing
assistance to the region to bolster the fight against the spread of AI
and has included Burma in the programming. Two TCPs (Technical
Cooperation Projects), one focused on laboratories and surveillance,
another on transboundary disease information management, are being
implemented. FAO provided laboratory test equipment to Burma and also
funded the travel of GOB officials to the two OIE/FAO/WHO regional
seminars on AI.

Some Birds and Eggs Get Through

The impact of the ban on poultry imports resulted in a 75% decline in
the production of day-old chickens. The lack of domestic production led
some producers to import in spite of GOB efforts to control the movement
of poultry over the Burmese borders. Some 2,500-day-old chicks
(broilers) were illegally imported from Ranong, Thailand on May 25,
2004, to Kawthaung, Myeik Township, Burma. The local LBVD sent those
birds back to Ranong and the poultry farm was sprayed with formaldehyde
disinfectant. It was also reported that another illegal importation of
4,000 eggs (broilers) over the Chinese border occurred on April 20,
2004. These birds went to Pyin Oo Lwin (Maymyo), a hill town in Mandalay
Division and it is uncertain if the eggs were destroyed. Another
shipment of 3,000 eggs (broiler) came in over the Chinese border June 6,
2004, and went to Madaya, also in Mandalay Division. These eggs were
destroyed.

Burma's Poultry Industry

Trade sources indicate there are about 63 million broilers, layers, and
local birds, with 50 million of these bred outdoors (free range) in
rural areas. The size of the bird population in the commercial poultry
farms (over 1,000 birds in traditional houses) ranges from 30,000 to
150,000 birds. Thetchaung Poultry Farm is the biggest farm in ShweNaung,
Shan State, with a layer bird population of 150,000. The larger
commercial broiler operations range in size from 30,000 to 40,000 birds,
while layer operations range from 30,000 to 150,000 birds. The great
majority of production is traditional in nature, with families raising a
small number of birds nearby their homes. Poultry density in Burma as
compared to flu-infected countries is sparse, with a low overall
population.

Foreign Owned Poultry Farms

There are only two foreign owned private poultry farms in Burma, namely
the CP Group from Thailand, and Jaffa from Indonesia. Previously, CP
imported breeder eggs and Parent stock from Thailand to be multiplied in
Burma for distribution of day old chicks into the domestic market. After
the outbreak of avian flu, CP switched to importing boilers and layers
from the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. CP is estimated to
have about 100,000 broiler PS and 50,000 layer PS. The Indonesia
operation Jaffa previously imported broiler and breeder eggs and PS from
Indonesia, but after the ban on imports from AI-infected countries,
Jaffa began to source breeder eggs and PS from India and France.

Imports Restarted

In May 2004, the GOB lifted a ban on poultry imports from Malaysia and
India in response to pressures from producers. Import permits were
issued for selected companies to import PS broilers from Malaysia and
India, neither of which reported any cases of AI. In addition to these
imports, the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries also imported 1,400 of
HTY GP (grand parent) chickens from France on 28 October 2004. The
imported chickens are being bred as a "true line" in Zeebingyi village,
outside Pyin Oo Lwin, Mandalay Division. This GP stock was imported to
reproduce PS from a true line in order to supply the Rangoon market and
to rebuild commercial stocks for future market supply. Random testing of
day old chick imports is reported to be in place.

Impact On the Poultry Sector and Domestic Meat Market

Due to the impact of the import ban, there was a marked decline in
broiler chicken breeding stocks. The shortage of breeders resulted in
shortages of broilers and layers. To make matters worse, poultry farmers
were selling their stocks to the market in a hurry early on to avoid
losing their stocks to AI. It is estimated that the overall poultry
population decreased about 30 percent as a result.

The outbreak of AI in the neighboring countries also affected the
domestic meat market. Consumers in Burma were reluctant to eat poultry
meat and the prices declined. During February 2004, chicken prices in
the markets dropped by about 25 percent due to weaker consumer demand. A
trader in the Central Poultry market in Mingalar Taung Nyunt Township,
Rangoon Division, reported that broiler chickens were selling for kyat
900 school viss (3.6 lbs) in December but the price dropped in February
to Kyat 650 per viss. Prices of other types of chicken (local breeds)
also dropped. Poultry farmers estimated they were losing about kyat 200
a bird on average, including broilers and local birds, a serious loss.
The AI impact came at a time of the year when there is an increased
availability of other meats and fish, so consumers had other protein
options.

Conclusion

Since last May 2004, as some imports were permitted, supplies have
recovered somewhat. Demand for poultry meat in the domestic markets has
recovered with the falloff in media attention over AI and chicken prices
have stabilized again in Burma. Burma's poultry industry suffered heavy
losses when AI was detected in the neighboring countries. Increased
import prices for breeders resulted in a twofold price increase of day
old chicks in the domestic market. But the additional cost to importers
for testing of day old chicks for AI has increased the prices of day old
chicks high enough that profit margins often do not cover costs. The
industry remains beleaguered.

End of Report.