Thailand - Phichit Province (2006)

[Sharpe]

The bathtub analogy is so applicable. The whole world is transfixed upon a little girl who's sick at the only farm in Thailand that they've confirmed had bird flu. What a comedy!

http://nationmultimedia.com/2006/07/...l_30009571.php
Girl quarantined in wake of new bird flu outbreak
By Suzanne Nam 26 July 2006 01:35
A young girl in the Central Plains region is currently being tested for bird flu after hundreds of sick birds were found to be infected with the deadly H5N1 avian flu virus, according to health officials.

“We are very concerned and we are taking great care to determine if she has it,” said Dr Paijit Warachit, director-general of the Health Ministry’s Medical Science Department.

Results will be available today and the child, identified only as an 11-year-old girl from Phichit, will remain in quarantine unless she is given a clean bill of health, according to the doctor.

Although health officials now routinely test patients with severe flu symptoms for H5N1, the little girl’s illness has raised concern because she was reported to have helped her mother bury sick chickens in the province where the latest outbreak of bird flu was reported yesterday – the first since December, according to the Agriculture Ministry.

“We can confirm it – 295 native chickens and fighting cocks [in Phichit] were found to have the H5N1 strain of bird flu,” said Dr Nirundorn Aungtragoolsuk, director of disease control at the ministry.

Agriculture Ministry workers spent yesterday spraying areas of the Central Plains region with disinfectant and slaughtering hundreds of birds in an effort to stem the spread of the disease.

Seven provinces in the Central Plains region were recently designated potential bird flu hot spots by the Agriculture Ministry because of increased incidents of sick poultry and continued wet weather. Like normal seasonal influenza, bird flu tends to appear more frequently during the rainy season, Dr Paijit said.

Thailand reported its first outbreak of bird flu in animals at the beginning of 2004. Since then, the Agriculture Ministry has culled millions of wild and farm birds all over the country and has also initiated community-based monitoring programs that have received international attention for their successes.


////////
BIRD FLU
Eye on poultry farmer, family

Blood test not carried out on family because they 'looked perfectly healthy' to probe team

Livestock and health officials yesterday turned the spotlight on the family whose chickens tested positive for the deadly H5N1 virus in the first confirmed infection of bird flu in Thailand this year.

Chumporn Khoomsrog, 54, and three members of his family were placed under close observation for any signs of avian flu, such as fever.

Starting yesterday, one day after the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives announced it had detected the H5N1 strain in samples taken from Chumporn's dead chicken, the observation programme will take 22 days.

The family have not yet had blood tests for bird flu because they looked perfectly healthy to the disease-investigating team who checked them yesterday at their house in Phichit's Bang Mun Nak district.

Dr Prachak Watanakul, chief of Phichit's Public Health Office, said he had ordered a team from Bang Mun Nak Hospital to observe the family's health every day until the end of the monitoring programme.

Phichit has six patients quarantined in hospital for fear that they might have contracted bird flu, said the doctor. One is an 11-year-old girl from Bang Mun Nak.

Prachak said the girl lived in a sub-district near to Chumporn's family and had reportedly touched a dead chicken before falling ill with bird flu-like symptoms.

Previously, he said, there had been 120 cases on a watch-list, but all were removed after negative tests for avian flu.

Phichit livestock authorities are culling poultry within a five-kilometre radius of Chumporn's house.

Veterinarian Thamanoon Thongsuk said Chumporn had raised 268 fighting cocks and they started to die on July 15.

A couple of days later, livestock authorities stepped in to help bury the carcasses and took some samples for testing.

Mounting reports of poultry deaths continue to come from many areas in the lower North and upper Central regions, including Phichit. Chiang Mai livestock authorities yesterday issued a statement to suspend cock-fighting until further notice.

The Public Health Ministry said no human case of bird flu had been detected in about 20 recent cases sent for testing. The ministry has tested about 1,600 samples taken from suspected patients in 67 provinces this year.

Nirundorn Aungtrakultook, director of the Department of Livestock Development's (DLD) bureau of disease control and veterinary services, said yesterday a test confirmed that the virus found in Pichit was the H5N1 strain.

The DLD has sent a sample to the World Organisation for Animal Health's laboratory in England to test whether the virus had mutated. As part of an international agreement, specimens must be sent to the laboratory each time there is a new outbreak.

[Siamese]

AVIAN FLU SUSPECTED HUMAN CASE

Top health official: High chance Phichit teen died of H5N1
POST REPORTERS
A 17-year-old youth from the northern province of Phichit who died from acute lung infection and flu-like symptoms on Monday had probably been infected with the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus, a senior Public Health official revealed yesterday. ''There is a high possibility that this man died from avian influenza,'' the official said, adding that doctors had failed to detect the virus because the tissue samples from the patient had deteriorated.

The official said the youth, from Thap Khlo district, was admitted to the hospital last Tuesday after developing a high fever. His condition deteriorated rapidly.

The teenager had buried about 20 fowls that had died of unknown causes in his village shortly before he fell ill.

Post-mortem results on the cause of his death would be released today, said the official.

The announcement came a day after the Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry on Monday confirmed a fresh outbreak of the H5N1 bird flu strain in Phichit's Bang Mun Nak district _ the first in the country in eight months. The virus was found in a fighting cock carcass.

The district has been declared a bird flu-infected area, which allows the authorities to employ full-scale disease control measures, including eradication, quarantine, controls on fowl movements and disinfection of affected premises.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) yesterday called on Thailand to conduct an ''intense investigation'' into the re-emergence of bird flu and trace the possible spread of the virus from the northern province of Phichit.

The international body also emphasised the importance of ''early detection'' and ''rapid and transparent international reporting'' to curb the spread of the virus.

The recurrence of bird flu in Phichit reaffirmed the FAO's concern about the potential for the disease to resurface in high-risk areas, said Laurence Gleeson, regional manager of the FAO's emergency centre for transboundary animal diseases yesterday.

Further investigations should be carried out to determine the source of the infection, he said.

''The FAO will continue to closely monitor Thailand's bird flu prevention and control programmes and offer assistance to the Livestock Development Department (LDD) in its control efforts,'' he said.



Meanwhile, the Department of Medical Sciences yesterday announced that five suspected human bird flu cases from Phichit, Uttaradit, Phitsanulok, and Phetchabun, had tested negative for H5N1.
Department chief Paijit Warachit said the five patients, including a 12-year-old girl from Phichit, were only infected with the human influenza virus.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/26Jul2006_news04.php

[Sharpe]

Poor guy, he was probably not even on the list of suspected cases. The wave of confirmations may just be beginning. Step by step. First, confirmation of chickens in one province, then of people in that province, then of other provinces, then of Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, southern China, etc.

[HenryN]

Commentary at

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/07..._Fatality.html

[Theresa42]

Originally Posted by vaffie

The reason you're finding "Noen Maprang" hard to find is because it's not in Phichit, but in the province to the north of Phitsanoluk. Specifically, it is the southeastern-most part of that province that's doing the culling. It is #9 in this Wikipedia map. Based on the article, they are also having similar problems in "Wang Thong" (#8).
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Im...hitsanulok.png

Thanks, vaffie!

[Sharpe]

Originally Posted by Theresa42

Thanks, vaffie!

No problem, Buddy!

[Theresa42]

More on what's going on the Phitsanulok province, including Má-Bpraang and Wang Tong....

Machine-translated from Thai:

Phichit - Phitsanulok main dark catch bird flu
โดย ผู้จัดการออนไลน์ 26 กรกฎาคม 2549 05:29 น.

Public health province Phichit down district Baang Moon Naak distribute glove rubber and mask to villagers protect virus bird flu at the same time measure keep an eye on be careful dark continuously when Phitsanulok find chicken die 4 districts repeat every district strict watch be careful.

Reporter report task spread out virus bird flu in chicken domestic in district at the present time 11 [?] olive district Baang Moon Naak province Phichit by province then announce give every district basically that red and forbid transfer poultry every kind that lately (25 July) bureau public health province can bring glove rubber and mask cover up nose too much distribute offer with farmer in order that protect against virus bird flu at the same time repeat not allow bring chicken die marshland ("maap" -- มาบ ริโภค) at the same time authority livestock still bring carcass chicken that remain send inspect/examine search for virus and spray disinfectant coop chicken.

By field Mr. [name] assistant provincial governor Phitsanulok good success [?] people co-operate public health province veterinarian Ms. [name] livestock province chief officer Baang Gra Toom at the same time authority livestock set move immediately down district village Gra Toom that is area adjoining province Phichit that there is problem virus bird flu spread in district Baang Moon Naak because chicken in district Baang Gra Toom die excessively more hundred each 5 in 4 district 6 village which authority can enter/reach destroy chicken that remain and keep an eye on be careful district method strict besides also meet institute in region repeat in measure control bird flu.

In order that since date 4-24 July this province Phitsanulok destroy poultry in area find death not known cause already 4 districts is district Ma-Braang (เนิน มะปราง), district Wang Tong, district Baang Gra Toom and district Prom Pi-Raam total more than 7,000 bodies [poultry/chickens].

http://www.manager.co.th/Local/ViewN...c7%d1%b4%b9%a1

[Mellie]

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/07..._Fatality.html

Suspect H5N1 Bird Flu Patient in Pichit Thailand Dies

Recombinomics Commentary
July 25, 2006

A 17-year-old youth from the northern province of Phichit who died from acute lung infection and flu-like symptoms on Monday had probably been infected with the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus, a senior Public Health official revealed yesterday. ''There is a high possibility that this man died from avian influenza,'' the official said, adding that doctors had failed to detect the virus because the tissue samples from the patient had deteriorated.

The official said the youth, from Thap Khlo district, was admitted to the hospital last Tuesday after developing a high fever. His condition deteriorated rapidly.

The teenager had buried about 20 fowls that had died of unknown causes in his village shortly before he fell ill.

The above description strongly suggests that H5N1 human fatalities will soon be confirmed in Thailand. HPAI H5 was reported to the OIE on July 24, 2006, leaving little doubt that H5N1 bird flu was causing fatalities in Thai poultry.

Several patients linked to dead or dying birds are being tested, However, the death of a 17 year with bird flu symptoms which developed after handling dead poultry is a likely bird flu case.

Recent sequences from Laos and Malaysia indicated the Fujian strain of H5N1 in China had moved into southeast Asia. All reported human cases in China in 2005 and 2006 have been the Fujian strain, which is clade 2 and distinct from the earlier clade 1 isolates in Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia cases in 2004 and 2005.

The large number of reported cases in Thailand suggest there are unreported cases in neighboring Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. The reported and unreported human cases are cause for concern.

[Sharpe]

Originally Posted by Theresa42

In order that since date 4-24 July this province Phitsanulok destroy poultry in area find death not known cause already 4 districts is district Ma-Braang (เนิน มะปราง), district Wang Tong, district Baang Gra Toom and district Prom Pi-Raam total more than 7,000 bodies [poultry/chickens].

http://www.manager.co.th/Local/ViewN...c7%d1%b4%b9%a1

So, we can add #5 and 6 to the map of cases--in the south and the NW of the province. District #6 is only 18 miles from the very first warning news article that occurred on June 28th, when two small children were admitted to the hospital after their chickens died. District #5 is 5 miles from the next warning news article on July 4th in which a 7 year old girl was hospitalized. What this means is that the districts that are being reported about in Thailand are the ones where everything began. In other words, there is at least a 4-8 week lag between these outbreaks and the reports we are getting. No wonder they have so many sick people and already at least one death if not many more.

[Theresa42]

Originally Posted by vaffie

What this means is that the districts that are being reported about in Thailand are the ones where everything began. In other words, there is at least a 4-8 week lag between these outbreaks and the reports we are getting. No wonder they have so many sick people and already at least one death if not many more.

Yeah, I agree. You don't get an explosion of cases like this overnight -- this has been brewing for a while now. There's so much info leaking (pouring!) out now that it's hard to keep up ... my head is spinning. This didn't just happen the other day....

[Theresa42]

Machine-translated from Thai:

People province Phichit be nervous after find chicken die because bird flu (19.45 o'clock)
วันอังคารที่ 25 กรกฎาคม 2549

Villager group 11 [?] olive district Baang Moon Naak province Phichit different worry that there is chicken die a great number of and task examine prove carcass chicken of Mr. Chumphon find that infected with bird flu that authority can destroy poultry in the period of 5 kilometers and prohibit move poultry in radius 10 kilometers together with enter spray disinfectant place house Mr. Chumphon and house adjacent as for family of Mr. Chumphon also contact watch symptom continuously on time 21 days which at present also not find abnormality

Then can go that home Huay Gruat district Poom Peua Yiam home of girl 10 year that suspected be infected bird flu that also be treated to be at that hospital Phichit at the same time give information to villagers in prevention bird flu for sick persons that wait result confirmation there is to be at 6 persons

When farmer person [?] duck remove field different bring prevent fear but still feel relieved that there is livestock arrive investigate and also not find that infected with bird flu

Province Phitsanulok district Roi Dtor province Phichit also be nervous also because there is chicken die count hundred bodies and also there is boy 5 year have temperature high after touch chicken die then bring send hospital Má-Bpraang

When director-general Dept of Livestock get report situation instruct Council of Ministers (Cabinet) which Prime Minister instruct/order watch/guard be careful and spray disinfectant continuously and every province persuade people bring fighting cock come register every body for province Phichit will ask for approve bring budget help victim nature that province there is to be at 50 million baht come compensate farmers before

Mr. [name] minister administer Ministry of Public Health say that can command every province that find poultry infected with or die unusual everywhere basically that red and tomorrow will go follow situation that province Phichit also onself

There is sick persons too much that hospital armed forces [Army Hospital] catch up with increase [That sounds to me like there are too many patients for the regular hospital to handle so a military hospital is taking the overload...?] again 2 persons result task check find that have a fever blood go out both 2 persons that to be at in district that there is common house mosquito plentiful as for that hospital Uthani Thani find patient fever blood go out 1 person total is patients whole 165 persons and wait results check blood again 4 persons

http://www.ch7.com/news7ch_news_temp...p?NewsID=78216

[Sharpe]

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_....php?id=111423
Phichit livestock chief ousted for flu coverup

Agriculture Minister Khunying Sudarat Keyuraphan ordered the transfer of Phichit Province`s chief livestock officer on Wednesday, accusing him of failing to report situation of bird flu disease to the ministry.

The transfer was issued after Khunying Sudarat and caretaker Public Health Minister Pinit Jarusombat visited the province after a teenager was confirmed to have died from the avian disease.

Pracha Assavametha, the chief livestock officer of Phichit, was transferred to the ministry on Wednesday as he failed to prevent the spreading of the disease in the province and failed to report the situation to the minister.

However, Mr Pracha said he actually had reported the situation of mysterious deaths of birds and chickens to the ministry and the minister.

Earlier Wednesday, caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said the 16-year-old boy from Phichit had died of bird flu, making him the country`s first casualty from the virus in over seven months. (See Bangkok Post story at left)

Mr Thaksin said the boy caught the virus from one of his fighting cocks in northern Thailand.

"The 16-year-old boy did not report the death of his fighting cock because he was afraid that authorities would slaughter his birds," Mr Thaksin said. "But it`s too late, he died of bird flu after touching the dead bird that had been sick."

Thai authorities Tuesday confirmed a new outbreak of the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus in Phichit, but the boy was not living on the farm where the disease was found.

Thawat Suntrajarn, chief of the Phichit province disease control department, said the victim suffered from a deadly combination of dengue fever and bird flu, which he said was common in people who die from the H5N1 strain of the virus. (Agencies)

[Theresa42]

Thai poultry farmers urged to register after seemingly new outbreak of bird flu
July 26, 2006

Thailand's caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on Wednesday urged poultry farmers to report to the authorities on any mysterious death of their birds, following the death of a young man from bird flu and the hospitalization of three other persons in northern Thailand.

It appears that a new outbreak of bird flu, the fourth round of its kind, has emerged in Thailand after the cases in northern province of Phichit were reported, according to Thai public health authorities.

The government has banned the movement of poultry and will notify the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Organization for Animal Health.

Caretaker prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra asked poultry producers at all levels, whether household farmers who keep a few birds or large-scale commercial producers, to inform public officials immediately if any of their fowls died of unknown causes.

However, Thaksin said the government would not declare the entirety of Phichit Province a bird flu outbreak area, but would only declare specific locations where the disease had been detected as being at-risk areas.

Public Health Minister Pinij Jarusombat conceded on Wednesday morning that a 17-year-old boy from Tabkhlo District of Phichit who died recently had been infected with the H5N1 bird flu virus, the first victim of human bird flu in the kingdom during the past one and a half years since February 2005.

Meanwhile, a nine-year-old boy from the same area is suspected of having contracted bird flu as some 50 chickens in his neighborhood died suspiciously of the same disease. Another two suspected bird flu patients, a 56-year-old man and a 78-year-old Buddhist monk, have been admitted to hospital in the province. Their blood test results have not yet been completed.

Source: Xinhua

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/20...26_286988.html

[Sharpe]

Originally Posted by Theresa42

\
Meanwhile, a nine-year-old boy from the same area is suspected of having contracted bird flu as some 50 chickens in his neighborhood died suspiciously of the same disease. Another two suspected bird flu patients, a 56-year-old man and a 78-year-old Buddhist monk, have been admitted to hospital in the province. Their blood test results have not yet been completed.

I think this is the first mention of this 9 yo boy and possibly of the other two (but I vaguely recall hearing about them, though I can't find any proof of it).

[Theresa42]

Originally Posted by tsalagiT

Geez. that's all I've been seeing references too.....in most, if not all, cases coming out of thailand. just blood tests.

One thing to keep in mind is that perhaps the journalists are not very accurate in their reporting. If they hear tests are being done, they just might report "blood tests" since that's one sort of medical test people are familiar with.

Of course, they may really only be doing blood tests -- "Goldilocks testing" as Dr. Niman so aptly calls it! Has certainly been done before....

[AlaskaDenise]

[quote=tsalagiT....... I thought blood tests were only used for antibodies....2 weeks or longer after infection. ......[/quote]

Remember not too long ago, they discovered BF can sometimes be SPREAD via blood? I can't remember the country, but there was concern about donated blood being contaminated.

.

[Theresa42]

Machine-translated from Thai:

Province Phitsanulok find poultry sick die unusual - patient suspected is bird flu 3 persons
โดย ผู้จัดการออนไลน์ 27 กรกฎาคม 2549 09:38 น.

Veterinarian [name] livestock province Phitsanulok say that from date 8-24 July can destroy poultry in order that control bird flu in 7 districts but lately still find poultry sick die unusual continuously at the same time also find patient to be at in range watch/guard be careful bird flu 3 cases is man age 40 year, 11 year and 3 year to be at in family same in area at the present time 5 locality (village) Mae Ra Gaa, district Wang Tong at present time all 3 persons to be at in room/chamber sterile hospital wait for result task examine/diagnose confirm by laboratory when domestic animal province still guard/watch dark be careful first district because task strike entrance house search for disease when find poultry sick die will bury destroy immediately in order that control/limit task spread of disease.

Chief science [name] head livestock province Chiang Rai say that at present also not find task spread or there is poultry die unusual but in order that information not careless can set down path guard against save strict [?] can send authority inspector livestock connect with authority much group survey deep port and border [Taa Reua Lae Rim] thoroughly way river Mekong and barrier frontier border disease country Burma/Myanmar in order that guard against task smuggle bring poultry and carcass every kind that suspect that is bird flu enter also Thailand.

http://www.manager.co.th/Home/ViewNe...c7%d1%b4%b9%a1

[Theresa42]

July 26: 40 suspected human bf cases "on investigation." Fifteen (15) new suspected cases reported on the 26th from Phichit province -- two (2) new suspected cases reported from Kamphaeng Phet (one of these was "excluded" today).

2 cases seem to have been excluded from Phichit from the 24th to the 25th -- and, of course, one case was confirmed.

The breakdown - "on investigation" as of July 26:
Nakhon Sawan = 0
Uthani Thani = 0
Kamphaeng Phet = 1
Phichit = 39

http://dpc8.ddc.moph.go.th/db8/disea...YR26072006.pdf

Attachment 516

[Sharpe]

Do you guys realize why news like this is so terrible?

Poultry farms have been infected for years, but when has it resulted in a 3 year-old, 11, and 40 year old in the same family to be infected simultaneously? What this means is that if true, this virus is now incredibly infectious, that it doesn't take much exposure to it at all. If it doesn't take much virus, then people can get it from each other even if they don't shed a lot of it. It also makes evolution of the virus far more rapid. Because here we have three people in the same family infected. If we go on the premise that they didn't get it from each other but that they all got it from exposure to the same poultry, that means that now they all have the same strain. We have seen in the past how the virus mutates in people quite regularly. If they're shedding the virus, then each of them will possess not only the virus that was in them already but also those mutated ones that they're getting from their family members. Those now have the potential to recombine. What that ultimately means is that all 3 of them now have an infinitely higher number of recombinant and mutant possibilities. When you then multiply this by the size of the infected population in Thailand and the region, that's a heck of a lot of possibilities.

[prepdeb]

Eleven more suspected bird flu cases in Phichit
PHICHIT, July 27 (TNA) - Eleven more suspected bird flu cases were reported in Thailand's lower northern province of Phichit on Thursday.

Dr. Prajak Wattanakul, head of the Phichit provincial public health office, said that the 11 patients, mostly children aged between 4-14, are suspected of being infected with avian influenza virus and were admitted to five different hospitals in the province on Thursday.

Some of them had contacted with dead poultry and others live in areas where a large number of fowls died of unknown causes.

All the 11 patients were quarantined and samples of their blood and phlegm were sent for laboratory tests in the medical science centre in Nakhon Sawan, expected to be able to release the test results Friday, the doctor said. (TNA)-E009

http://etna.mcot.net/query.php?nid=23654

[Toaster2]

http://etna.mcot.net/query.php?nid=23654

Eleven more suspected bird flu cases in Phichit
PHICHIT, July 27 (TNA) - Eleven more suspected bird flu cases were reported in Thailand's lower northern province of Phichit on Thursday.

Dr. Prajak Wattanakul, head of the Phichit provincial public health office, said that the 11 patients, mostly children aged between 4-14, are suspected of being infected with avian influenza virus and were admitted to five different hospitals in the province on Thursday.

Some of them had contacted with dead poultry and others live in areas where a large number of fowls died of unknown causes.

All the 11 patients were quarantined and samples of their blood and phlegm were sent for laboratory tests in the medical science centre in Nakhon Sawan, expected to be able to release the test results Friday, the doctor said. (TNA)-E009

[Toaster2]

http://dpc8.ddc.moph.go.th/db8/disea...gJ27072006.pdf


Today's table at 15.00 lists 16 under investigation. 33 of yesterdays 40 have tested negative. I do not see where the 11 fit in, maybe these were reported after 15.00 ?

BTW there are now multiple Thailand threads - can they be merged ?

[Theresa42]

7 areas on red alert
July 28, 2006

Seven provinces have been labelled as bird-flu red zones where surveillance is being increased for the highly contagious disease.

They are Phichit, Sukhothai, Phitsanulok, Kamphaeng Phet, Uttaradit, Nakhon Sawan and Nakhon Pathom.

Currently, 44 patients are under close supervision after developing symptoms similar to avian flu. Laboratory tests are ongoing to determine whether they have the lethal H5N1 virus, which killed a 17-year-old boy in Phichit on Monday.

The boy was first diagnosed with dengue fever and initial tests for bird flu were negative. After he died, a further test showed he was infected with the bird-flu virus.

Caretaker Public Health Minister Pinij Charusombat yesterday called on doctors across the country to carefully check patients with fever, especially those who had come into close contact with fowls.

The bird-flu victim's father said yesterday he doubted whether his son died from the virus, given the fact that the teenager's contact with a dead chicken took place last month.

Medical Sciences Department director-general Paijit Warachit said the victim's blood sample was undergoing another test to double-check whether he had dengue fever. The result should be available next week.

According to caretaker Agriculture Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan, the government paid out several billion baht last week as compensation for fowls exterminated last year as the country tried to curtail the spread of avian flu.

"If we take preventative measures at the beginning, we will be able to prevent outbreaks," she said.

She told authorities to immediately cull fowl suspected of having bird flu and to disinfect their areas.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2006...l_30009756.php

[Theresa42]

Originally Posted by Toaster2

http://dpc8.ddc.moph.go.th/db8/disea...gJ27072006.pdf

Today's table at 15.00 lists 16 under investigation. 33 of yesterdays 40 have tested negative. I do not see where the 11 fit in, maybe these were reported after 15.00 ?

BTW there are now multiple Thailand threads - can they be merged ?

That 16 "on investigation" as of today are from the whole of the area covered by the Nakhon Sawan DPC, not just Phichit province.

The Nakhon Sawan DPC covers (as far as I can tell) 4 provinces (listed in this order in the left-most column of the daily update spreadsheet):
Nakhon Sawan
Uthani Thani
Kamphaeng Phet
Phichit

So, according to their update -- as of 15.00 -- 9 new cases were reported today (second column is cases reported today) -- 1 from Nakhon Sawan and 8 from Phichit, with 15 totally "on investigation" from Phichit.

Still doesn't fit the 11 from this latest news report -- but then the news reports and the daily updates haven't been matching in the last week or so anyway.

[Theresa42]

At the end, sounds like maybe an order is going out not to prescribe Tamiflu without positive test results...?

Machine-translated from Thai:

"Carefully" admit there is patient suspected bird flu 44 cases

โดย ผู้จัดการออนไลน์ 28 กรกฎาคม 2549 10:43 น.

Chief [name] be in charge minister Ministry of Public Health offer interview during task open campaign project survey Kat Gong [<< place?] patient cancer honor His majesty supreme [?] king Siam crown prince [name] in opening day resemble Buddhist holy day king birth 28 July that center cancer province Udon Thani concern situation patient bird flu that today there is patient lung inflame influenza which suspect bird flu to be at among task investigate disease and wait for result task confirm examine by laboratory amount 44 cases divide is Phichit 11 cases, Sukhothai 10, Suphan Buri 7, place remain province another like Phitsanulok and Yasothon because today can sign in command start faculty doctor diagnose in order that inquire that cases any will give a prescription Tamiflu [ทามิฟลู*] because if again and again will cause task resist drug action.

http://www.manager.co.th/Home/ViewNe...c7%d1%b4%b9%a1

* http://tinyurl.com/jdo3z

[Theresa42]

NOTE: STARTED THIS THREAD JUST TO PUT ALL THE PHICHIT INFO TOGETHER IN ONE PLACE. ALL OF THESE POSTS ARE ALSO IN THE ONGOING THAILAND DAILY THREADS. (THERE'S ALSO SOME PHITSANULOK INFO HERE.) PLEASE POST NEWS STORIES, DISCUSSION, ETC., ABOUT THAILAND IN THE DAILY THREADS. THANKS.

[HenryN]

Commentary at

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/07..._Thailand.html

[Siamese]

	VIRUS OUTBREAK Bird-flu patient numbers soar Minister asks panel to study use of anti-viral drugs over concerns misuse could lead to resistant strains of H5N1 The health minister is demanding definitive answers on the general prescription of anti-viral drugs to fight bird flu. Pinij Charusombat asked a special medical committee to report on the prescription of anti-viral oseltamivir, after an escalation in the number of people exhibiting symptoms similar to those caused by bird flu. He is worried the uncontrolled use of the drug could lead to resistant strains of the killer virus. The anti-viral oseltamivir is commonly known by one of its trade names, Tamiflu. It is the only drug that successfully treats people infected with the virus. A 17-year-old in Phichit on Wednesday became the country's first victim of the virus this year. Since then, the number of people in hospital with suspected bird flu has increased. In Phichit, there were 11 cases on Thursday but that had doubled to 22 yesterday. Nationwide there are 55 suspected sufferers waiting on test results. There are 10 cases in Sukhothai and seven in Suphan Buri, with the rest scattered. Hospitals in bird-flu red zones are receiving doses of Tamiflu and influenza test kits. Medical Science Department director-general Dr Paijit Warachit said there were now more suspected cases because awareness was higher. Pinij said his committee comprised infectious-disease experts from leading hospitals. They will standardise flu treatment. Public Health permanent secretary Dr Pratch Boonya-wongsaviroj said the committee started work yesterday. It had visited hospitals in Phitsanulok and was advising doctors on treatment. Today the team will go to Phichit, Sukhothai, Phetchabun and Kamphaeng Phet. Fears of new outbreaks have seen reports of unexplained bird deaths flooding in from many provinces. In Nakhon Panom, more than 12,000 chicken were culled yesterday after the death of chickens on several farms. Specimens have been sent for lab tests. The Livestock Development Department of the Agriculture Ministry confirmed chickens from a Phichit farm had died of the H5N1 virus. Director-general Yukol Limlaemthong visited the farm yesterday. http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2006/07/29/national/national_30009865.php

[Jeremy]

I hate it when numbers start doubling!

[Goju]

I hate that twice as much as you.