BANGKOK, Feb 19: A domestic cat has died of bird flu in Thailand in one of the first known cases of the disease outside birds and humans, a veterinary official said Thursday.

"We found the bird flu virus in a cat," said Thaneerat Santiwatra, dean of the faculty of veterinary medicine at Bangkok's Kasetsart University which tested the dead animal for the virus.

Thaneerat confirmed media reports that a man in western Nakhon Pathom province brought his cat to a Kasetsart vet clinic for testing after it fell ill with bird flu symptoms after eating chicken.

Thailand's deputy agriculture minister Newin Chidchob swiftly denied the reports. "It's not true, it's not right," he told AFP. The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation said it could not confirm the infection. "We heard the news reports, but we have no other information," FAO spokesman Diderik de Vleeschauwer told AFP. "It is an unconfirmed report. We know nothing more."

Thaneerat insisted his findings were accurate. "The ministry might not have the information. I have the virus right here," he said. He declined to say whether the cat was infected with the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain which has killed 22 people in Asia, saying further details would be provided at a press conference scheduled for Friday.

On Monday the environment ministry confirmed that bird flu had been detected in a clouded leopard that died last month in a Thai zoo after eating fresh chicken. -AFP