The Agriculture Ministry of Thailand has approved an experiment on bird flu vaccine amid re-emergence of the avian influenza in 13 provinces of the country.

The experiment on the H5N1 virus strain of bird flu will be conducted by a team of

specialists working in infectious diseases, the Bangkok Post quoted Agriculture Minister Somsak Thepsuthin as saying on Sunday.

A veterinarian from China will be invited to introduce guild lines for the Thai team, he added.

About 100,000 fowl have been culled or died in the past two weeks after bird flu re-emerged in Thailand.

However, the Livestock Development Department opposed such experiment warning vaccination carries potential risks to public health and is unlikely to eradicate the infection.

The department argued that bird flu vaccination works only in countries with a low pathogenic bird flu virus, such as H5N7 or H5N2, which cannot be passed on to humans.

"Vaccination could trigger the virus, mutation and cause a human pandemic eventually," said Yukol Limlaemthong, director-general of the department.

Although bird flu has been confirmed in 13 provinces, livestock officials said the latest flare-ups were contained to individual poultry farms and had not become an epidemic.

Source: Xinhua