Comments by Laurence Gleeson, regional manager of FAO's Emergency Centre for the Control of Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD) in Bangkok on the bird flu free declaration by Myanmar today:

"FAO has noted that Myanmar has declared it is free of the H5N1 avian influenza. This is based on the absence of evidence of outbreaks of the disease since late April 2006. FAO will continue to manage international donor support to strengthen the HPAI surveillance and response system in Myanmar, both to confirm and preserve this freedom from the disease."