THAILAND - poss sus cases in Phitsanulok & Phichit

[yielddude]

Re: Suspected/Confirmed Human Cases 1/12/2007 +

Girl, 4, has bird-flu symptoms

A four-year-old girl in Ayutthaya was hospitalised yesterday with symptoms that could be associated with bird flu, prompting health concerns throughout the central province.


"She has high fever and a lung infection," Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Hospital director Veeraphol Thiraphancharoen said.


However, initial lab results showed the girl had tested negative for bird flu.


Following the girl's hospitalisation, Ayutthaya Governor Cherdphan na Songkhla immediately ordered public-health officials and health volunteers to check local people in every village. The close surveillance of humans will continue for the next 14 days, while the surveillance on fowls will continue for 30 days.


Public Health Minister Mongkol na Songkhla yesterday said his ministry's stock of bird-flu medicine was enough to treat up to 80,000 human patients.


He was speaking after visiting a 43-year-old resident of Ayutthaya at the Bang Pahan Hospital. The man was initially suspected of having bird flu. However, lab tests confirmed the man had not contracted the deadly virus and he would be able to return home soon.


As of press time, Phitsanulok public-health chief Dr Thawatchai Kamontham reported that a 62-year-old patient was on the bird-flu watch list because she had developed high fever after being in contact with dead fowls.


In Ubon Ratchathani, a patient was put on the bird-flu watch list pending lab test results.


According to Livestock Development Department director-general Pirom Srijan, the country had detected bird-flu infections only in Phitsanulok's Muang district this year.


So far, he said, suspicious mass deaths of fowls were reported from January 15 till yesterday in three areas - Phitsanulok's Wat Bote district, Ayutthaya's Bang Pahan district and Nong Khai's Si Chiang Mai district.


During the period, more than 3,700 birds had been culled.

http://nationmultimedia.com/2007/01/23/national/national_30024851.php

[Legadillo]

Re: THAILAND - poss sus cases in Phitsanulok & Phichit

Man, 12 kids under close watch
(Thursday January 25, 2007)

Twelve children and a man in Ang Thong and Phichit provinces are under watch for bird flu symptoms after falling ill soon after the suspicious deaths of a large number of chickens in the area. Their condition has worried health officials because they are thought to have been in contact with infected chickens in the aftermath of bird flu outbreaks in Phitsanulok and Nong Khai.


In Ang Thong, two boys and two girls in a village in Sawaengha district were admitted to hospital after they suddenly developed high fever and vomited continuously. Doctors said they needed special care and were being kept under surveillance.
Villagers said the children were seen in contact with the dead chickens before they became ill.


In Phichit, eight students at Ban Nong Nam Kiew school in Sam Ngam district also had high fever after the carcass of a dead chicken was found in their school yard.

A man, aged 31, is also being treated for fever at a hospital in Pho Thale district after 20 of his chickens died mysteriously.

Phichit health official Prajak Wattanakul said the students would be kept under surveillance for at least 21 days and doctors would also be sent to the school to take care of teachers and all 94 students, as there were fears that the chicken might have died of H5N1 bird flu.


Many chickens at a nearby temple died over a number of days and a dog took the carcass to the school ground, he said.


In addition to the outbreaks in Phitsanulok and Nong Khai, officials are waiting for the lab result of tests on ducks after 93 died in Ayutthaya's Bang Pahan district. An initial examination showed the ducks were not infected with the H5N1 virus, said Livestock Development Department chief Pirom Srijan.


In Khon Kaen, provincial livestock officials culled more than 80 chickens in Ban Phai district after 10 died of unknown causes. Officials also are stepping up efforts to block the transport of chickens between Nong Khai and Khon Kaen.


In Prachuap Khiri Khan, deputy provincial governor Bongkan Limpapan told police and livestock officials to be on alert for the transport of fowls to 14 provinces in the South.


According to the Livestock Development Department, six people have been arrested for transporting fowls and fowl carcasses.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/25Jan2007_news15.php

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: THAILAND - poss sus cases in Phitsanulok & Phichit

Authorities say no mutation of H3N2 flu despite human deaths

BANGKOK, Jan 26 (TNA) - The Public Health Ministry has confirmed that the human flu virus H3N2 has not mutated into a form more deadly for human beings even though three patients have so far died of the virus.

The three patients may have been in a weakened condition already, and died of having contracted a common human influenza, even though it is not usually life-threatening.

Otherwise, the virus may have developed to more severe form but the lab tests confirmed that the three patients were infected with the H1N2 or H3N2 virus strain, which is the common human flu, Public Health Ministry spokesman Dr. Suphan Srithamma said on Friday.

In 2006, the Bureau of Epidemiology reported 16,309 flu patients with only two deaths and in 2007, there have been just 154 flu human cases so far, with three deaths -- including a 41-year-old man from Nong Khai, a five-year-old girl from Prachuap Khiri Khan, and a two-year-old girl in Bangkok.

The spokesman said the symptoms of the flu start with high fever and severe muscle pain in adults. Complication such as pneumonia is the main cause for deaths of patients.

The elderly and children aged below five years old, and people with congenital diseases like asthma and diabetes should consult doctors when they are sick.

Meanwhile, Medical Science Department director-general Dr. Paijit Warachit said specialists are continuing to analyze samples of the virus from the deceased patients, although the initial tests confirmed that it is the
virus H3N2 strain. (TNA)-E004

http://etna.mcot.net/query.php?nid=27540