Thailand: Girl taken to hospital

[Jeremy]

http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/04Jul2006_news09.php
Girl taken to hospital


<!--img--><!--/img-->A seven-year-old girl with a high fever yesterday was taken to a hospital in Phichit for blood tests for avian flu infection. More than 2,000 poultry have died in four tambons in Wang Sai Phun district in the past few days. The district has been declared as an animal disease infection area.


Local livestock officials warned local residents not to eat the meat of poultry that died suddenly. They were running laboratory tests on samples from the dead poultry.


The girl, who is from tambon Nong Son, was being treated at Sam Ngam Hospital. She had contact with dead chickens before developing flu-like symtoms.


Her blood samples were sent to Region 9 Medical Science Centre in Phitsanulok province for examination.

Pracha Aswametha, a livestock officer, said initially he suspected E. coli infection was the cause of the mass poultry death.

[Sharpe]

Re: Thailand: Girl taken to hospital

This is concerning, but also somewhat reassuring that Thailand is opening up again. They have categorically denied the presence of bird flu since November of last year. The last we heard was from this province (Phichit) in October/November. They did much culling in November in this province after many people became sick (see the below quote), and then the reporting ended. And then the world congratulated them for getting rid of the disease. Probably the reason why Phichit is so vulnerable is because it sits on the two rivers Nan and Yom which create a riverplain that wild and domestic birds do quite well in. As you can see from the attached map, it (blue) is only 18 miles from the Province of Sukhothia, where chickens have also been dying this week and two other kids were admitted. It is also 45 miles from Chaiyaphum, where 800 chickens died in the first week of March. Finally, the closest confirmed bird flu reported this year was at a duck farm at the Laos-Thailand border 200 miles northeast of here.

Two more suspected bird flu victims

Posted on <SMALL>Saturday, 29 October 2005, 16: 12 GMT</SMALL>

Two more suspected avian influenza patients have been found in two northern Thai provinces of Chiang Rai and Phichit, doctors said on Saturday. An 18-year-old man has been admitted at a hospital in Chiang Saen District of Chiang Rai Province since October 26 after he came into contact with dead chickens for unknown reasons. Trained volunteers are now closely monitoring the deadly disease in villages in this province, as winter is approaching, when the danger increases. Bird flu prefers cold weather, according to experts.
The second suspected victim is a 49-year-old man and is now receiving a treatment at a hospital in Phichit Province. Doctors have sent his blood for test to the Department of Medical Sciences and the result is expected to be known on Monday. According to doctors, the victim raised a flock of more than 100 chickens and ducks at his home and felt sick after eating his dead birds. The doctors said two women who were also suspected of having contracted the disease and were admitted at the hospital earlier are still in critical condition now. Two boys who were admitted to hospital in Phichit on Wednesday have been released after doctors said the patients suffered from ordinary influenza and not bird flu. (Source: Thai News Agency)

[Sharpe]

Re: Thailand: Girl taken to hospital

I sent the article to Promed for the first time. We'll see if they show it.

[Jeremy]

Re: Thailand: Girl taken to hospital

I sent the article to Promed for the first time. We'll see if they show it.

I am not going to hold my breath on Promed taking any action on this.

I like oxygen too much.

[unpathedhaunt]

She tests negative

Lab test shows Phichit girl not infected by avian flu
PHICHIT, July 4 (TNA) - The blood test of a seven-year-old girl with flu symptoms taken to hospital in Phichit showed that she had not caught bird flu, Dr. Prachak Watanakool, head of the Phichit provincial public health office said Tuesday.

The unidentified girl, who lives in Nong-Sano sub-district, was taken Monday to Sam Ngam district Hospital for treatment after developing a high fever and other flu-like symptoms.

She was reported to have had contact with dead chickens before that.

Dr. Prachak said the test results from a sample of her blood undertaken by the Region 9 Medical Science Centre in nearby Phitsanulok province indicated the child had fallen ill with an ordinary flu, not the more worrisome bird flu, and she accordingly had been taken out of quarantine.

Provincial public health officials led by Dr. Prachak visited Mab Krapao village in Sano sub-district Tuesday morning following reports of hundreds of poultry there having died in the past few days.

The sub-district has been declared as an animal disease infection area. Officials warned local residents not to eat the meat of poultry that died mysteriously. (TNA)-E009

http://etna.mcot.net/query.php?nid=23073

[Jeremy]

Re: Thailand: Girl taken to hospital

So the Thai officals say the girl is not infected, but still there is no explanation for why all the birds died.

Sharpe is spot on in being sceptical of Thailand's claims of being 'Bird Flu Free'. Just because a government doesn't want to admit that they have bird flu doesn't mean it isn't there.

Here is what needs to be remembered.

For the past couple of years Bird Flu has been spreading around South East Asia and by WHO's own account it had become endemic in certain countries.

Then, a miracle happened. Last winter, the countries where bird flu had become endemic all of the sudden eradicated bird flu.

Here these countries were struggling like hell to deal with their bird flu problem for more than 2 years and all the sudden 'poof' the problem is gone basically overnight.

[Sharpe]

Re: Thailand: Girl taken to hospital

So the Thai officals say the girl is not infected, but still there is no explanation for why all the birds died.

Sharpe is spot on in being sceptical of Thailand's claims of being 'Bird Flu Free'. Just because a government doesn't want to admit that they have bird flu doesn't mean it isn't there.

Here is what needs to be remembered.

For the past couple of years Bird Flu has been spreading around South East Asia and by WHO's own account it had become endemic in certain countries.

Then, a miracle happened. Last winter, the countries where bird flu had become endemic all of the sudden eradicated bird flu.

Here these countries were struggling like hell to deal with their bird flu problem for more than 2 years and all the sudden 'poof' the problem is gone basically overnight.

You know how they eradicated it? Because the world turned it's attention more and more to the dead birds in Russia and then Europe and the Middle East, to all the humans dying in Turkey, then Iraq and Egypt,, and they stopped focusing on Thailand and Vietnam, so they gradually just stopped issuing press releases until one day someone asked "what's going on in Vietnam and Thailand", and the answer was "look, we don't have any news any more--we must have eradicated it". A lack of news does not mean a lack of virus, unfortunately. As you can see from these occasional reports from Thailand, chickens are DYING and people in contact with them are getting SICK! Anyway, if you're wondering what happens to the dead chickens, well, they were eaten.

http://english.people.com.cn/200607/04/eng20060704_279955.html

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="465"> <tbody><tr><td class="t18">Villagers eat dead poultry, neglecting bird flu caution, in Thailand</td> </tr> <tr><td align="right"> <script language="javascript"><!-- drawline1(); //--></script><script langage="javascript"> printResizeButton(); </script> </td></tr> <tr> <td>
Hundreds of domestic poultry died in a village in northern Thailand Phet last week, and villagers cooked and ate them without regard to possible bird flu,local medical officials reported on Tuesday.
Public health officials in the lower northern province of Phichit have renewed precautionary measures against avian flu after hundreds of chickens died from unknown causes.
After visiting Mabkrapao village in Sam Ngam district, Dr. Prachak Wattanakun, a provincial health official, said that hundreds of local poultry had died suspiciously, and that villagers had eaten them while disregarding the potential of avian flu.
Local health officials warned villagers not to eat sick chickens and advised them to use rubber gloves when handling the poultry, dead or alive, to prevent the spread of possible bird flu virus and contracting the disease.
Samples of the dead poultry were sent for laboratory testing, but the results are not yet available, he said.
Anyway, the incident raises questions regarding the effectiveness of the government's anti-bird flu education among rural farm families, observers was quoted by the Thai News Agency as saying.
Last year, bird flu was detected at the village,which straddles the shared border of Phichit and Kamphaeng Phet provinces.

</td></tr></tbody> </table>

[Sharpe]

Re: Thailand: Girl taken to hospital

Anyway, it's the new advanced test for bird flu. Rather than look for the virus in the 2000 poultry that these 20 people couldn't have eaten, they're waiting to see what happens to them after they ate them. Years of dealing with H5N1 and this is how they test for it. ha ha. It's called pandemic preparedness evolution, and it's pretty funny, if you think about it. Doctors sitting around looking at 20 stuffed people and every time an eater burps happily, they all mumble 'yeah, they know that you can't catch bird flu from cooked chickens'. While the media reporter munches his locally prepared chicken sandwich, surprised at how easy it was to get this story published. Meanwhile, the wave of death outside continues to sweep through the poultry of central Thailand.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/05Jul2006_news15.php
HEALTH

Villagers who ate dead fowl watched for flu APINYA WIPATAYOTIN KULTIDA SAMABUDDHI
<!--img--> <!--/img--> Twenty villagers from Phichit's Sam Ngam district are under a 14-day bird flu watch after eating chickens which died of an unknown cause. The Public Health Ministry also reported yesterday that a seven-year-old girl from neighbouring Wang Sai Phun district, who developed flu-like symptoms after coming into contact with dead chickens last week, tested negative for bird flu.

More than 2,000 poultry have died in four tambons in Wang Sai Phun in the last few days, prompting livestock officials to cull fowl in the area as a precaution and watch closely for bird flu outbreaks.

The girl developed a high fever last Friday and was admitted to Sam Ngam hospital, where she was quarantined in an isolated room for bird flu suspects.

Paijit Warachit, chief of the Medical Sciences Department, said a blood test showed the girl tested negative for the H5N1 avian flu virus.

''She has been infected with the H1 strain of the influenza virus, not the H5 avian flu virus strain,'' said Dr Paijit.

Prachak Watanakul, chief of Phichit provincial public health office, said health volunteers had repeatedly told villagers not to touch or eat chickens which had died from unknown causes, but the warning seems to have fallen on deaf ears in Sam Ngam.

''It is true that eating cooked chicken is safe, but villagers don't realise they could be exposed to the deadly virus while they process the raw chicken,'' he said.

Dr Prachak said none of the 20 villagers had developed flu-like symptoms so far.

Meanwhile, the Livestock Development Department yesterday warned of the re-emergence of bird flu in the country following the massive poultry deaths in Phichit and Sukhothai provinces.

''The second and third round of avian flu outbreaks took place between June and July, when the temperature fell due to heavy rains. So, it is highly possible the disease will make a comeback during this period,'' said Nirundorn Aungtragoolsuk, director of the department's disease control bureau.

[Sharpe]

Re: Thailand: Girl taken to hospital

They actually posted my email to Promed, with commentary.

http://www.promedmail.org/pls/promed/f?p=2400:1001:1036103199389247288::NO::F2400_P1001_BACK_PAGE,F2400_P1001_PUB_MAIL_ID:1000,33433

UNDIAGNOSED DEATHS, POULTRY - THAILAND **************************************
A ProMED-mail post <http://www.promedmail.org> ProMED-mail is a program of the International Society for Infectious Diseases <http://www.isid.org>
Date: Tue, 4 Jul 2006
From: ===
Source: Bangkok post, 4 Jul 2006 [edited] <http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/04Jul2006_news09.php>

More than 2000 poultry have died in 4 tambons [local government units in Thailand; below district (amphoe) and province (changwat), they form the 3rd administrative subdivision level] in Wang Sai Phun district in the past few days. The district has been declared an animal disease infection area. [Wang Sai Phun is situated within the Phichit province; map at <http://www.world-gazetteer.com/s/s_th.htm>. - Mod.AS] Local livestock officials warned local residents not to eat the meat of poultry that died suddenly. They were running laboratory tests on samples from the dead poultry. Pracha Aswametha, a livestock officer, said initially he suspected _E. coli_ infection was the cause of the mass poultry death.

--Student
Baylor College of Medicine Houston, TX, USA
<---@yahoo.com>

[No lab results are reported to confirm the suspicion that _E. coli_ is the etiological agent involved in the poultry mortality. It is not apparent that H5N1 has been ruled out. A request for laboratory results would be in order. - Mod.TY] [Thailand has meticulously and continuously reported its HPAI status since its initial official report on the disease on 24 Jan 2004. On 31 Mar 2006, a "final report" was sent to the OIE, stating the following: "140 days have elapsed since the last case of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Thailand (on 9 Nov 2005), where stamping-out with compensation was employed. In February 2006, the Department of Livestock Development conducted the first biannual HPAI active surveillance. During the month, 57 461 cloacal swab samples were collected for virus isolation. To date, no new positive case has been reported in Thailand." No other reports have been sent after the above final report. Results of the current laboratory investigation, hopefully ruling out AI, are indeed anticipated. - Mod.AS] [see also: Avian influenza - worldwide (111): Thailand, Viet Nam, Romania 20060514.1367] ..................arn/ty/pg/jw

[sharon sanders]

Re: Thailand: Girl taken to hospital

Great Sharpe.

[Sharpe]

Re: Thailand: Girl taken to hospital

Thanks Florida1. It should be a covert warning when they cull less than 10% of the poultry that have already died in the area and cut their estimate of the number of poultry in half.

http://etna.mcot.net/query.php?nid=23095

200 chickens in Phichit culled to prevent bird flu PHICHIT, July 5 (TNA) - Almost 200 chickens in the northern Thai province of Phichit were culled and buried Wednesday morning in a bid to prevent the possible spread of the avian influenza (bird flu) virus.

The culling of the poultry was carried out at Mab Krapao village, Sano subdistrict, Sam Ngam district which was declared an animal disease infection area last week after more than one thousand local domestic chickens died from unknown causes and a child was hospitalised with a suspicious illness a few days later.

A seven-year-old girl having had contact with dead chicken developed flu-like symptoms, prompting the fear of another round of the bird flu.
However, public health officials said Tuesday she tested negative for the H5N1 avian flu virus and she was released from isolation in hospital.

After the culling, district livestock officials slaughtered and buried some 200 chickens after covering them with lime and disinfectant.

Meanwhile, officials took some poultry semen samples for lab testing for bird flu. The testing will be carried out in nearby Phitsanulok province and its results will be released next week. (TNA)-E009

[Lyro]

Thailand: Girl taken to hospital

VILLAGERS WHO ATE DEAD FOWL WATCHED FOR FLU
By Apinya Wipatayotin & Kultida Samaduddhi
July 5, 2006 (Bangkok Post)

Twenty villagers from Phichit's Sam Ngam district are under a 14-day bird flu watch after eating chickens which died of an unknown cause. The Public Health Ministry also reported yesterday that a seven-year-old girl from neighbouring Wang Sai Phun district, who developed flu-like symptoms after coming into contact with dead chickens last week, tested negative for bird flu.

More than 2,000 poultry have died in four tambons in Wang Sai Phun in the last few days, prompting livestock officials to cull fowl in the area as a precaution and watch closely for bird flu outbreaks.

The girl developed a high fever last Friday and was admitted to Sam Ngam hospital, where she was quarantined in an isolated room for bird flu suspects.

Paijit Warachit, chief of the Medical Sciences Department, said a blood test showed the girl tested negative for the H5N1 avian flu virus.

''She has been infected with the H1 strain of the influenza virus, not the H5 avian flu virus strain,'' said Dr Paijit.

Prachak Watanakul, chief of Phichit provincial public health office, said health volunteers had repeatedly told villagers not to touch or eat chickens which had died from unknown causes, but the warning seems to have fallen on deaf ears in Sam Ngam.

''It is true that eating cooked chicken is safe, but villagers don't realise they could be exposed to the deadly virus while they process the raw chicken,'' he said.

Dr Prachak said none of the 20 villagers had developed flu-like symptoms so far.

Meanwhile, the Livestock Development Department yesterday warned of the re-emergence of bird flu in the country following the massive poultry deaths in Phichit and Sukhothai provinces.

''The second and third round of avian flu outbreaks took place between June and July, when the temperature fell due to heavy rains. So, it is highly possible the disease will make a comeback during this period,'' said Nirundorn Aungtragoolsuk, director of the department's disease control bureau.

Source: http://bangkokpost.net/News/05Jul2006_news15.php

[Lyro]

Thailand: 3 suspected cases test negative in Phichit

PROVINCE OF PHICHIT: Earlier this month, twenty villagers from Phichit were under "a 14-day bird flu watch", and a seven-year-old girl with a high fever and bird flu like symptoms was taken to a hospital in Phichit. Now, laboratory tests on 3 suspected cases apparently show no signs of avian flu. What's really going on in Phichit???

***

MYSTERY RISE IN BIRD-FLU REPORTS
July 15, 2006 (The Nation)

Laboratory tests on three patients suspected to have caught the bird-flu virus in the northern province of Phichit confirmed that they did not have the disease, the Public Health Ministry said yesterday.

Two children, aged 7 and 12, from Thab Khlo district, and a 32-year-old woman showed no signs of the lethal H5N1 virus, said Dr Pratch Boonyawongwiroj, the ministry's deputy permanent secretary.

All had reportedly fallen sick with similar symptoms of high fever, coughing and muscular pain after being in contact with home-raised chickens that died of unexplainable causes, said the doctor.

The ministry warned the public against cooking poultry that had died of irregular symptoms.

Whether it was because of mounting concerns among health workers or the number of cases was rising, the reported number of patients listed as suspected cases of bird flu had surged from a few to about 20 per day, said Dr Kumnuan Ungchusak, director of the ministry's bureau of epidemiology.

Dr Phaijit Warachit, head of the Department of Medical Science responsible for testing the virus, said there had still been no sign of the virus being significantly mutated or developing drug resistance.

Mounting public concern over bird flu has prompted Songkhla Zoo to feed carnivo.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2006...s_30008785.php

[Lyro]

Thailand: Girl taken to hospital

Again, the same info, reported in the Bangkok Post.

***

AVIAN FLU / SUSPECTED HUMAN CASES
Three taken off the watch-list
July 15, 2006 (The Bangkok Post)

The Public Health Ministry yesterday removed three people earlier suspected of contracting the deadly H5N1 virus from the bird flu watch-list, saying they simply had common flu. The three patients, two children aged 7 and 12, and a 32-year-old woman, were rushed to local hospitals after they developed high fevers. All three had come into direct contact with chicken carcasses.

Dr Prad Boonyawongviroj, Public Health permanent secretary, said laboratory tests had shown that the three had not contracted avian flu and they would be released from hospital today.

Paijit Warachit, director-general of the Medical Sciences Department, said no new strains of bird flu had been detected so far.

He said his agency had sought a budget of 30 million baht to buy two mobile lab vehicles that would enable medical authorities to reach any area suspected of suffering a bird flu outbreak.

Source: www.bangkokpost.com/News/15Jul2006_news10.php

[Sharpe]

Re: Thailand: Girl taken to hospital

Wow, this is amazing!
Chickens en masse in 430 tambons! 50 provinces!
A fungus killed them? Who are they kidding?

http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/18Jul2006_news19.php

BIRD FLU

Ministry says it hasn't been covering up any outbreaks


Charal: No signs of an outbreak

PIYAPORN WONGRUANG

The Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry yesterday denied vehemently it had been covering up fresh outbreaks of bird flu following reports of mass deaths of poultry over the past few weeks.

It could not possibly conceal such outbreaks because its bird flu surveillance and diagnostic operations were monitored closely by various agencies such as the World Organisation for Animal Health, said Charal Trinvuthipong, assistant to the agriculture and cooperatives minister.

Covering up bird flu outbreaks would also end up doing more harm than good to the country, he added.

Officials had conducted so-called "X-ray" bird flu surveillance tests nationwide from last month and about 53,000 fowl tissue samples tested negative for bird flu, Mr Charal said.

Mr Charal was responding to a pointed query from an outgoing senator, Nirun Phitakwatchara, a member of the Senate's panel on human development and social security, who suspected the ministry had been concealing the recurrence of bird flu after poultry deaths on a large scale were reported in many areas devastated by previous outbreaks.

The ministry was accused of mismanagement and covering up the disease when it first struck the country in early 2004.

About 61 million poultry died or were culled in the first outbreak. But H5N1 has not been detected in Thailand since November.

"Our ongoing active bird flu surveillance operations may have misled people into believing there have been bird flu outbreaks. It's true that the disease, which is now endemic to Thailand, may emerge again today or tomorrow. However, it is impossible for us to cover up outbreaks if they do occur," said Mr Charal.

The Livestock Development Department reported on Sunday that fowl died in huge numbers in 430 tambons in 50 provinces. The department's laboratory tests confirmed that 351 tambons were free of bird flu, while 79 tambons in 23 provinces were still awaiting test results.

Meanwhile, more chicken deaths were reported yesterday, including about 1,000 in Phichit and 300 in Phitsanulok provinces. The test results on the samples are due to be released next week.

Pornchai Chamnanpood, director of the department's National Institute of Animal Health, a focal point for diagnosing bird flu in animals, also dismissed the allegation that the institute was "ordered" to cover up bird flu detections.

He said the fowl deaths were caused by weather fluctuations and environmental changes, which had prompted some fungi and bacteria to grow more rapidly, devastating livestock. The lethal organisms had been found in some chicken carcasses.However, a high-level source at the department said about 10% of samples were unsuitable for diagnosis of H5N1. The bird flu virus could be elusive and impossible to detect in some cases.

Yukol Limlamthong, head of the Livestock Development Department, said that since the disease was already present in the country, the department did not rule out a possibility of a re-emergence of the virus. The department had been upgrading poultry farm management along with imposing strict controls on fowl movements and carrying out frequent disinfections of bird flu-risk areas as part of the bird flu prevention and surveillance scheme.