Suspected bird flu case found in Thailand

A strain of bird flu has been found in chickens in Thailand and it may prove to be the deadly H5N1 virus.

Officials say the virus is detected on a farm in the northern province of Pichit, one of seven "red zone" provinces where surveillance was stepped up this month.

An 11-year-old girl is in a Pichit hospital with flu-like symptoms after chickens died on her family farm, a doctor told Reuters.

Test results are due later today and if H5N1 is confirmed, it will be Thailand's first outbreak in nearly nine months.

The virus has killed 14 Thais since it first arrived in the country in late 2003. The last death occurred in December 2005.

- RADIO AUSTRALIA