Thai patients [Sukhothai Province]

[Lyro]

THAI PATIENTS DIAGNOSED FREE OF BIRD FLU
June 28 (People's Daily Online)

The local health office in northern Thailand Wednesday declared a boy and a girl free of bird flu although they were admitted to hospitals on suspicion of contacting with chickens which have recently died mysteriously.

The public health office in Sukhothai Province said on Wednesday that a blood test on the boy and girl showed that they were free of bird flu.

The three-year-old girl from Sawankalok district had just caught a cold while the 10-year-old boy had influenza, doctors said.

Meanwhile, Sukhothai's livestock office has already sent a team of veterinarians to villages where the boy and girl lived to collect information and find the cause of the death of the chickens.

As precautionary measures, about 5,000 chickens were culled.

Source: Xinhua http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/20...28_278176.html

[Lyro]

Re: Thai patients

PUBLIC HEALTH MINISTER DENIES NEW CASES OF BIRD FLU FOUND
June 28, 2006 (ETNA English News)

Bangkok (TNA) - Thailand's Minister of Public Health assured the public Wednesday that no new cases of avian flu have been identified in the kingdom since early this year, and that the recent cases found in Sukhothai were not, in fact, bird flu but patients having with a normal human strain of influenza.

Public Health Minister Pinij Jarusombat, cautioned, however, that there was no room for complacency and stressed that the ministry has set up a strategic plan to prevent possible animal-to-human transmission of the H5N1 avian influenza virus during the next two years.

Praising the impressive performance of public health officials dubbed "Mr.Bird Flu"--one for every province--and civil servants from other agencies across the country, Mr. Pinij said Thailand remains vigilant against the spread of avian flu.

The education and prevention campaign against bird flu has proved efficient as Thailand witnessed no new cases this year.

Results of laboratory tests show that the two children--a 10-year old boy and a three-year-old girl in Sukhothai -- were not infected with H5N1 virus but tested positive for a normal human strain of influenza, Mr. Pinij said.

Presiding over a seminar here on provincial-level responses using "Mr.Bird Flu" as a front man in the campaign against the possible spread of avian influenza, Mr. Pinij said the seminar focused on rehearsing responses to a hypothetical outbreak and brainstorming ideas to prevent and implement immediately a five-strategy outline already developed to contain the outbreak.

H5N1 in its current form does not easily infect humans, but officials fear it may mutate into a more easily transmissible strain, resulting in a global pandemic.

Expressing concern about possible animal-to-human transmission of the H5N1 virus, the public health minister assured the public that the ministry will pull out all the stops to ensure the effectiveness of surveillance network and anti-bird flu campaign through its provincial machanism, " Mr.Bird Flu".

Source: http://etna.mcot.net/query.php?nid=22928

[Sharpe]

Re: Thai patients

To put this area in perspective relative to recent news in this general area:

In February, 175 miles west of here, it was reported that cows and the people who herd them were dying of Foot and Mouth Disease.
On March 2nd, at least 800 chickens died suddenly 140 miles east of here.
In March, 215 and 320 miles west of here in Myanmar, wild birds such as eagles were noted to be dying, as well as poultry in the area were rumored to be dying.
In April it was reported that Australia had refused to send any more animals to the Thai Safari Park 130 miles north of here, because for the last two years, a mysterious disease has been killing hundreds to thousands of endangered animals in the park including orangutans, dingos, giraffes, emus, and wallabies.
On April 30th, bird flu was confirmed at a farm 200 miles northeast of here on the Thai-Laos border.
On June 1st, 140 miles northwest of here, they announced that the number of Class 4 Dengue patients (Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever) in the rural villages was increasing rapidly).