Oct. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Thailand's Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra urged Thais not to panic after a resurgence of the deadliest strain of bird flu killed a 13th person in the kingdom -- the first this year.

The man's child has a fever and has been sent to Bangkok for tests, Thaksin said. The man, who died early on Oct. 19, lived in Panuamthuan district of Kanchanaburi, 150 kilometers (94 miles) west of Bangkok.

Fears that the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus, already capable of jumping to humans from fowl, will mutate into a form easily transmissible between people has spurred governments to stockpile vaccines and anti-viral drugs, to prevent a pandemic which could threaten millions of lives. Turkey and Romania confirmed outbreaks in poultry, heightening fears of the illness in Europe. Bird flu has killed a confirmed 60 people in Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and Cambodia since 2004, according to World Health Organization figures.

Thailand, where 12 people died of bird flu last year, is forecast to be Asia's biggest chicken meat exporter this year by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, selling 270,000 metric tons overseas. Thailand exports cooked chicken products since its two biggest export markets, Japan and the European Union, banned raw poultry from the kingdom when it first confirmed bird flu in January 2004.

The EU this month extended its ban for another 12 months, along with import restrictions on 10 other Asian nations where bird flu has been detected.

William L. Aldis, the WHO representative in Thailand, was not immediately able to answer questions as he was speaking to Thailand's health ministry, his assistant said. Thai health authorities confirmed the death in a press conference shortly after Thaksin's announcement. No age was given for the dead man, or an age or sex of the child. The Nation newspaper yesterday reported the man was 48 and his male child is 7.

Southeast Asia's second biggest economy has culled more than 40 million chickens since the initial outbreak in a bid to limit the spread of the virus.

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