THAILAND - Pandemic Preparedness

[Snowy Owl]

Thai reaction 'would be faster'
AVIAN FLU WHO HUMAN PANDEMIC GUIDELINES
http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/19Apr2006_news16.php

Thailand has decided to not wait as long as the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends before taking action if the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus begins transmitting from human to human.

Kamnuan Ungchusak, director of the Epidemiology Bureau, said yesterday the Public Health Ministry will take action to control a pandemic once at least five people working or living together, with no record of contacting sick birds, test positive for the virus within 10 days.


The WHO recommends declaring a pandemic when at least 20 people at the same site and with no record of bird contact are infected with H5N1 within two weeks.


''If we follow the WHO's guidelines we think we might be too late sometimes to contain an outbreak,'' Dr Kamnuan told a bird flu seminar put on by Siriraj and Ramathibodi hospitals.


''If we can control the source of an outbreak, we can limit the number of people infected in the country.''

He said he was confident the national plan to deal with an outbreak of human transmissible bird flu was in place because there had been good cooperation by health-related agencies.

However, he said, the plan will be more effective if a pandemic is detected early.

There has been concern globally that H5N1 may transform into a virus that will transmit easily between humans.

Thailand and Vietnam have been praised by United Nations bird flu coordinator David Nabarro for their preparation for a pandemic.

The two countries were commended for their prompt alerts about bird flu threats and the role of local communities in helping to contain outbreaks.

[Mellie]

Thailand prepares for new bird flu outbreak

http://www.asianewsnet.net/news.php?aid=722

Thailand prepares for new bird flu outbreak
By News Desk
The Nation Publication Date: 25-04-2006

The public health ministry is preparing for a new bird flu outbreak by stockpiling anti-viral drugs and sending aid to its neighbouring countries to curb spreading of bird flu.

"Experts worldwide have predicted the flu will spread around the globe this year, and it is likely that the virus could mutate to easily infect humans,"public health minister Pinij Charusombat said in a statement.

Thailand has stockpiled 1.5 million capsules of the anti-viral drug oseltamvir, a generic version of the drug Tamiflu which Thailand began producing this year, he said.

Bangkok had also offered neighbouring countries like Myanmar help with research and training to tackle the disease. Moreover, Thailand set aside Bt100 million (US$26,522) as financial assistance to curb bird flu for its less developed neighbours," Pinit said.

[Lyro]

Re: Thailand - Pandemic Preparedness

HUMAN SPREAD OF BIRD FLU OMINOUS
By Editorial Desk (The Nation)
4 July 2006

Last month's chilling announcement by the World Health Organisation (WHO) that seven members of an Indonesian family who died of bird flu the month before may have been the first cases of human-to-human transmission of the deadly virus made headlines around the world.

WHO experts were quick to point out that the spread of the disease within the family on Sumatra was not the result of a virus mutation and that there was no evidence to indicate this was the first step towards a global pandemic.

However, the world's top bird flu experts, who convened a consultative meeting at the request of the Indonesian government last month, have yet to explain why only blood relatives - not spouses - became infected after one contracted the virus after living and working in close proximity to infected poultry.

Some experts contend the blood relatives had a common genetic predisposition that made them susceptible to the H5N1 virus, but there is no evidence to support that claim.

Obviously, the WHO is doing its best to strike a delicate balance between not causing a worldwide panic and the need to prompt the international community to prepare for if and when the now-sporadic human bird flu cases become a pandemic.

Indonesia has been among the countries hardest hit by the virus, with 51 confirmed human infections and 39 deaths. In Viet Nam, 93 cases of human infection have been reported, and 42 have died, while in Thailand 14 out of 22 people infected have died.

The WHO's latest statistics show a total of 228 human bird flu cases with 130 deaths reported in several countries around the world since the first human infections were first detected in Viet Nam in 2003.

The spread of the virus has raised fears that a flu pandemic could break out and kill millions worldwide.

The international response has been dramatic and robust. Wealthy industrial nations, including the US and those in Europe, have started to discuss plans for fast-track development of flu vaccines, in order to ensure that their citizens are better protected in the event of a flu pandemic.

Healthcare experts have warned that if and when the bird flu starts mutating and spreading easily among humans, the time it takes for governments and public health authorities to react will be the most crucial factor. It cannot be emphasised strongly enough that it could take up to six months to make and market a vaccine.

The best defence is for governments around the world to come up with a common plan of action backed by financial and health resources.

Rich countries can do a lot more to help developing countries - where outbreaks of human bird flu strains would likely originate - step up their preparedness to contain a flu pandemic at its source.

Although Thailand has reported no new human cases of bird flu this year, the possibility of a renewed outbreak remains a constant threat.

Compared with other developing countries, Thailand has done a decent job of getting ready for the possibility of an outbreak of the human form of bird flu.

The Thai government has stockpiled 200,000 doses of anti-viral drugs like Tamiflu that can be used to treat people infected with bird flu and is administering flu vaccines to vulnerable people like children and the elderly.

These measures were implemented along with a nationwide monitoring system, the designation of outbreak areas, strict quarantines, mandatory culling of affected birds and a standard procedure to screen and diagnose suspected cases of human bird flu infection.

What remains to be done is to develop a contingency plan for use in the event a sudden pandemic threatens to paralyse the country's economic activity, exhaust public-health resources and disrupt key public services like transport systems. Not to mention residual effects like a global economic slowdown.

All of this the government and private sector must discuss, in order to ensure effective crisis management if and when worse comes to worst.

Source: http://www.asianewsnet.net/editorial.php?aid=2789

[Lyro]

Minister of Agriculture sets up disease watch

BIRD FLU: SUDARAT SETS UP DISEASE WATCH
July 16, 2006 (The Nation)


Photo: Sudarat Keyuraphan, Minister of Agriculture, Thailand

Disinfection campaign and stricter controls on transport of fowl will be implemented before rains peak

Agriculture Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan yesterday revealed government plans, including "disease-watch" zones and transport checks, to prevent any outbreak of the bird-flu virus before the full onset of the rainy season.

The strategy also includes intense surveillance and disinfection of farms and communities that house domestic fowl.

Sudarat was speaking at Bangkok's Koh Don community in Soi Ramkamhaeng 118, where she was checking on disinfectant-spraying.

She said the ministry already had agencies to closely watch for the H5N1 virus and these would step up monitoring because rainfall and increased humidity helped incubate and spread many diseases, including the bird-flu virus.

Since the ministry's cleansing scheme began in May, officials have found more areas, such as this community with about 3,000 birds, that have not been disinfected, she said.

Residents were told to keep their fowl in net compounds away from residential areas and were warned against touching dead birds with their bare hands, she said.

They were urged not to conceal suspicious illnesses and deaths in poultry but to inform livestock authorities or pubic-health officials immediately.

Sudarat said that although the monitoring of areas at risk and the collection of 46,000 samples for bird-flu testing had not so far revealed any evidence of the virus, the ministry considered flood-prone provinces "disease-watch" zones.

The special zones, many of tehm with repeated cases of fowl disease, include Phichit, Sukhothai, Phitsanulok, Suphan Buri, Angthong, Ayutthaya, Kanchanaburi and Nakhon Pathom provinces.

Sudarat said the deputy director-general of the Livestock Development Department will supervise and cooperate with

governors and the local people in the zones considered "disease-watch".

Control over poultry transport will also be tightened, with new checkpoints in 21 lower-northern, upper-central and western provinces.

Anyone transporting animals must inform officials of their plans in advance, she said.

Source

[Lyro]

THAILAND - Pandemic Preparedness

GOVERNEMENT MOUTS WEEK-LONG BATTLE AGAINST BIRD FLU
August 5, 2006 (TNA)

Bangkok -- Officials from three Thai government ministries will work hand-in-hand with provincial governors during special week-long operations next week, starting Monday, aimed at containing the renewed outbreak of avian influenza.

Twenty-nine provinces, including Bangkok and surrounding provinces--Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani, Samut Prakan, Nakhon Pathom and Suphanburi, had been reported increased exposure to the deadly disease, Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan said here Saturday.

The decision to launch stringent anti-bird flu measures in the provinces, excluding the South, came after the minister met with Livestock Development Department officials from those provinces.

The measures call for officials from the Ministries of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Public Health and Interior to work directly with provincial officials in locating areas where birds have died, registering poultry and providing relevant information and motivational knowledge to local farmers, Khunying Sudarat said.

The measures are being launched before the main annual wild bird migrations to Thailand in late September as the weather becomes cooler, Khunying Sudarat said. "It will be difficult to fight the disease when it becomes strengthened," she said.

Public health officials will be given human influenza injections to prevent them from contracting bird flu, she said, adding that she would seek additional funds during the cabinet meeting next Tuesday (August 8) if the budget allocated earlier is insufficient.

Source: http://etna.mcot.net/query.php?nid=23876

[Shannon Bennett]

Re: THAILAND - Pandemic Preparedness

I have hope that Thailand is getting its act together. I pray that other nations now act in concert to step in quickly and assess the situation in Thailand. The only way to avert disaster is to work in concert and help provide expertise, and monies if needed.

[Snowy Owl]

Tha?land - Avian flu vigilance intensifies as wild bird migration season begins

Avian flu vigilance intensifies as wild bird migration season begins

http://etna.mcot.net/query.php?nid=24544

BANGKOK, Sept 4 (TNA) - Thailand's Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives has stepped up its measures to control bird flu as the main migratory season for wild fowl is coming, Vice Minister Charal Trinvuthipong said on Monday.

Chairing a meeting of agencies responsible for bird flu control, Dr.Charal, director of the government's command centre on avian influenza, said efficiency in bird flu prevention must be fine-tuned as the season is approaching for migratory birds which might carry the H5N1 virus to pass through Thailand.

Furthermore, he reported, it has been discovered that local residents in several areas have been reluctant to disclose, and even covered up information about poultry which died of unidentified causes.

To strengthen prevention, Livestock Development Department chief Yukol Limlamthong said, agricultural volunteers have been deployed to help public health volunteers to monitor bird flu outbreaks, and
thorough local inspections and examinations for bird flu in vulnerable areas nationwide will be resumed in October.

Meanwhile, he said, the department will soon submit its budget for promoting safer poultry husbandry, with Bt200,000 to be allocated for farmers in each sub-district nationwide.

The budget request will be presented to the Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives before being forwarded to the Cabinet for its approval, Dr.Charal said.

[Lyro]

THAILAND - Pandemic Preparedness

AVIAN FLU: VISITING WILD BIRDS TO BE KEPT UNDER CLOSE WATCH
By Piyaporn Wongruang (Bangkok Post)
September 5, 2006

Authorities are prepared to closely monitor migratory birds, which are expected to arrive in the country's major swamps from next month, and implement tough bird flu control measures, said a senior avian flu control official yesterday. Charal Trinvuthipong, assistant to Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister, said the National Bird Flu Control Centre has instructed livestock officials to spray disinfectant in major swamps in three central provinces - Pathum Thani, Suphan Buri, and Nakhon Sawan - to ward off the bird flu virus which might spread when wild birds arrive during their annual migratory period which begins next month.

Of particular concern was Bung Boraphet, the country's largest freshwater swamp, located in Nakhon Sawan.

Free-range duck farmers would be instructed to keep the animals away from those areas to avoid avian flu infection, said Dr Charal, who supervises the centre.

The forestry officials would be asked to closely monitor wild birds to see if any are sick and to collect bird carcasses for H5N1 virus tests, he said.

Meanwhile, the Food and Agriculture Organisation has offered some financial assistance for bird flu research to help enhance control measures against the disease, Dr Charal said.

Dr Charal said the country had learned by now when those birds would be arriving, and was well-prepared for the situation.

Besides measures against wild birds, the officials would also conduct nationwide checks for bird flu this month, he said.

Awareness-raising campaigns would be carried out among poultry farmers to ensure they stayed alert to the disease.

''There have been reports about illegal movements of fowls to avoid mandatory culling. Some dead fowls have either been eaten or dumped into natural water sources,'' he said.

Source: www.bangkokpost.com/News/05Sep2006_news18.php