There were fears, quashed quickly by the FAO, the virus had got into pigs in Vietnam, which could accelerate the process of mutation into a strain that might cause a human pandemic.
But a clouded leopard died of the H5N1 virus on Jan. 27 at Kaokiew Zoo, 60km east of Bangkok, and a tiger there is recovering from the virus.
The zoo in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai has quarantined its pair of pandas, one of the world's most endangered animals and its biggest draw, to cut the risk of them catching it.
"Since the bird flu outbreak, we have not allowed the pandas to come out of their shelter and roam around their yard to keep them away from wild birds," zoo director Tanapattana Ponpamorn said.
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