Thais battle bird flu with free food

Many Thais were determined to get a free meal despite queues

Bangkok residents have flocked to government-organised hand-outs of cooked chicken, aimed at overcoming fears of the bird flu outbreak.

Food outlets joined the campaign, which came as officials expressed hopes of having the outbreak under control soon.

Despite the optimism, two more people - one in Thailand, one in Vietnam - were confirmed to have died on Wednesday, taking the toll to 15.

In Rome, food and health experts continued crisis talks on the outbreak.

I think that it (chicken) must be safe, so I'm eating it Bangkok resident

The latest deaths were a six-year-old boy in Thailand, where five people have now died, and a teenage girl who became Vietnam's tenth fatality.

People who have contracted the H5N1 bird flu are generally thought to have caught it through contact with sick birds.

But experts are worried the virus could mutate into a strain that could pass from human to human, although there is no firm evidence that this has happened yet.

Tens of millions of chickens have already been slaughtered in 10 affected Asian countries, but the World Health Organization (WHO) says the outbreak is far from being under control.

In other developments:

• China confirms a new case of bird flu in south-western Yunnan province. More than a third of China's 31 provinces have confirmed or suspected cases of the outbreak

• Taiwan says it is considering launching a free flu vaccination for babies and toddlers

• Thailand says it expects tourist arrivals from China and South Korea to fall about 20% in February because of the outbreak.

Huge PR event

On Wednesday, deep-fried chicken, omelettes and other chicken and egg dishes were being given away at a series of events across the Thai capital.

Three tonnes of chicken had been given away and some 50,000 eggs whisked into Thai omelettes at one of the events at the Public Relations Department, local television reported.

"I think that it (chicken) must be safe, so I'm eating it," one consumer was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.

"We are handing out 1,000 pieces of fried chicken until Friday, with the only condition that it's one piece per person," a spokeswoman from Yum International, which runs Kentucky Fried Chicken in Thailand, said.