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Bird flu kills Thai man, Bangkok area on risk list
05 Aug 2006 10:58:37 GMT
<!-- 05 Aug 2006 10:58:37 GMT ## for search indexer, do not remove-->Source: Reuters
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BANGKOK, Aug 5 (Reuters) - A 27-year-old Thai man has died of bird flu, the country's second death this year, officials said on Saturday, as they put eight more provinces, including the Bangkok area, on a bird flu watchlist.
The man died on Thursday after the H5N1 virus killed chickens on his backyard farm in the province of Uthai Thani, 220 km (135 miles) north of Bangkok, the third province to suffer an outbreak since the virus re-emerged in July after an eight-month lull.
"He buried them without any protection and that's why he caught bird flu," Thawat Suntrajarn, chief of the Department of Disease Control, said of Thailand's 16th victim since the disease swept through parts of Asia in late 2003.
The World Health Organization, which says bird flu killed at least 134 people worldwide before the latest Thai death, urged previously hard-hit countries to be vigilant.
"Even in a country as well prepared as Thailand, it can come back and you can never rest easy," said Chadin Tephaval, a spokesman for the WHO in Thailand.
In Uthai Thani, 116 chickens and fighting cocks were culled to prevent the virus spreading from the dead man's farm.
His wife was not sick, but was being monitored after she cooked and ate some of the dead birds, Thawat said.
Since the death of a Thai teenager in late July, Thailand has rushed to plug gaps in its bird flu defences.
The area around the sprawling Thai capital was among eight provinces declared bird flu risk zones on Saturday, increasing the total to 29 of Thailand's 76 provinces.
"The ministry will step up proactive measures and campaigns to fight the virus," Agriculture Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan said in announcing the expanded watchlist.
She said local officials would go on a door-to-door campaign to educate villagers on how to handle sick or dead poultry.
A new call centre would take reports of suspicious poultry deaths and answer questions about the disease.
WARNINGS IGNORED
The fact that people were still handling dead chickens with their bare hands showed the government's safety message was not getting through, officials say.
"We have been using billboards, radio spots and television to tell people to protect themselves from the disease, but some are still complacent or ignore the warnings," Thawat said on Friday.
The government has threatened fines of up to 4,000 baht (about $100) or two months in jail for failing to report sick or dead birds.
The crackdown came after villagers in the province of Pichit, where the teenager died last month, were found to be hiding sick birds for fear their remaining flocks would be culled.
The outbreaks in Thailand and neighbouring Laos, where bird flu was found on a farm near the capital Vientiane last month, renewed fears the disease is flaring up again in Asia.
In Vietnam, where there have been no confirmed cases among poultry or humans this year, authorities are taking no chances.
Animal health workers slaughtered 53 wild storks at a theme park in Ho Chi Minh City on Saturday after random tests showed H5, part of the H5N1 virus, in two birds.
In Indonesia, tests confirmed six suspected human cases were not bird flu, an official said.
News of the suspected cases in Northern Sumatra province had raised concern of possible "cluster" outbreaks where several members of one family have the virus and of possible mutations making human-to-human transmission easier.
Indonesia's health ministry said on Thursday that preliminary tests showed the illnesses were not bird flu after all, and on Saturday Runizar Ruesin, head of the health ministry bird flu centre, told Reuters that further tests on the six confirmed "all of them negative" for the disease.
Indonesia and Vietnam have each had 42 deaths, the highest number of confirmed human deaths of any countries in the world. (Additional reporting by Orathai Sriring in BANGKOK, Ho Binh Minh in HANOI, Jerry Norton in JAKARTA)
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05 Aug 2006 10:58:37 GMT
<!-- 05 Aug 2006 10:58:37 GMT ## for search indexer, do not remove-->Source: Reuters
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BANGKOK, Aug 5 (Reuters) - A 27-year-old Thai man has died of bird flu, the country's second death this year, officials said on Saturday, as they put eight more provinces, including the Bangkok area, on a bird flu watchlist.
The man died on Thursday after the H5N1 virus killed chickens on his backyard farm in the province of Uthai Thani, 220 km (135 miles) north of Bangkok, the third province to suffer an outbreak since the virus re-emerged in July after an eight-month lull.
"He buried them without any protection and that's why he caught bird flu," Thawat Suntrajarn, chief of the Department of Disease Control, said of Thailand's 16th victim since the disease swept through parts of Asia in late 2003.
The World Health Organization, which says bird flu killed at least 134 people worldwide before the latest Thai death, urged previously hard-hit countries to be vigilant.
"Even in a country as well prepared as Thailand, it can come back and you can never rest easy," said Chadin Tephaval, a spokesman for the WHO in Thailand.
In Uthai Thani, 116 chickens and fighting cocks were culled to prevent the virus spreading from the dead man's farm.
His wife was not sick, but was being monitored after she cooked and ate some of the dead birds, Thawat said.
Since the death of a Thai teenager in late July, Thailand has rushed to plug gaps in its bird flu defences.
The area around the sprawling Thai capital was among eight provinces declared bird flu risk zones on Saturday, increasing the total to 29 of Thailand's 76 provinces.
"The ministry will step up proactive measures and campaigns to fight the virus," Agriculture Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan said in announcing the expanded watchlist.
She said local officials would go on a door-to-door campaign to educate villagers on how to handle sick or dead poultry.
A new call centre would take reports of suspicious poultry deaths and answer questions about the disease.
WARNINGS IGNORED
The fact that people were still handling dead chickens with their bare hands showed the government's safety message was not getting through, officials say.
"We have been using billboards, radio spots and television to tell people to protect themselves from the disease, but some are still complacent or ignore the warnings," Thawat said on Friday.
The government has threatened fines of up to 4,000 baht (about $100) or two months in jail for failing to report sick or dead birds.
The crackdown came after villagers in the province of Pichit, where the teenager died last month, were found to be hiding sick birds for fear their remaining flocks would be culled.
The outbreaks in Thailand and neighbouring Laos, where bird flu was found on a farm near the capital Vientiane last month, renewed fears the disease is flaring up again in Asia.
In Vietnam, where there have been no confirmed cases among poultry or humans this year, authorities are taking no chances.
Animal health workers slaughtered 53 wild storks at a theme park in Ho Chi Minh City on Saturday after random tests showed H5, part of the H5N1 virus, in two birds.
In Indonesia, tests confirmed six suspected human cases were not bird flu, an official said.
News of the suspected cases in Northern Sumatra province had raised concern of possible "cluster" outbreaks where several members of one family have the virus and of possible mutations making human-to-human transmission easier.
Indonesia's health ministry said on Thursday that preliminary tests showed the illnesses were not bird flu after all, and on Saturday Runizar Ruesin, head of the health ministry bird flu centre, told Reuters that further tests on the six confirmed "all of them negative" for the disease.
Indonesia and Vietnam have each had 42 deaths, the highest number of confirmed human deaths of any countries in the world. (Additional reporting by Orathai Sriring in BANGKOK, Ho Binh Minh in HANOI, Jerry Norton in JAKARTA)
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