Thailand: suspected bird flu patients in Surin Province

[Gert van der Hoek]

Five Suspected Bird Flu Patients Found in Surin Province

UPDATE : 10 December 2008




Surin Province has implemented measures against avian flu epidemic after five patients were recently discovered with bird flu-like symptoms.

Deputy Chief of Surin Public Health Office, Peerasak Polprueksa, has revealed that five patients are now under close watch as they are suspected of being infected with bird flu after handling poultry that died 7 to 14 days ago.

Two of the suspected bird flu patients are from Karb Cheong District, another two from Muang and Sanom districts, and one is Cambodian.

Residents in Surin Province are advised to clean their hands after handling poultry, to wear disposable masks, and cover their mouths with handkerchiefs when sniffing or coughing.

Meanwhile, officials of the Surin Livestock Department, the Animal Quarantine Office, and Kabcheong Public Office sprayed a disinfectant substance around fowl markets near the Chong Jom border that connects to Cambodia, to prevent an epidemic of bird flu.

http://www.thailandoutlook.tv/toc/ViewData.aspx?DataID=1011109

[HenryN]

Re: Thailand: suspected bird flu patients in Surin Province

Updated map

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&t=h&hl=en&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=106484775090296685271.00044622013f3bba138f7&num=200&start=400&ll=14.769571,103.760376&spn=1.256177,1.51062&z=9

[HenryN]

Re: Thailand: suspected bird flu patients in Surin Province

Commentary

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/12100804/H5N1_Thailand_5.html

[HenryN]

Re: Thailand: suspected bird flu patients in Surin Province

On earlier outbreak in north:

Sukhothai bird flu outbreak under control

• Friday, December 5, 2008, 15:14
• Other
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There have been no further cases of bird flu in Sukhothai and the outbreak is under control, Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Somsak Prissananantakul said yesterday.
Still, about 1,500 people living in nearby areas are required to undergo a 14-day monitoring period.
Apart from Sukhothai, Mr Somsak said there were no reports of outbreaks of avian flu elsewhere in the country.
Five chickens at a chicken farm in Thung Saliam district of Sukhothai became sick and died on Oct 27.
Lab tests showed one chicken carcass was infected with H5N1, which can be fatal to humans.
This led to the culling of 12 other chickens at the infected farm and 270 others at nearby farms to prevent any diseases spreading.
Mr Somsak said poultry movements were banned and the area declared an avian flu zone with quarantine checkpoints and stepped-up surveillance for the disease within a 5km radius of the infected area.
There had been no further cases of bird flu since the culling of the poultry.
Mr Somsak said epidemiologists were making a thorough check on the cause of the chicken’s death.
Provincial disease control offices in Central Plain and lower North were toughening restrictions on the movement of poultry carcasses.
Livestock Development Department chief Sakchai Sriboonsue said there was no cause for alarm because the infection was limited to a single chicken farm.
Apichart Jongsakul, secretary-general of the Office of Agricultural Economics (OAE), said there was no sign of a decline in exports of processed chicken products to markets like Malaysia and Hong Kong.
Disease Control Department director-general Somchai Chakrabhandu said no humans had been infected with bird flu in Thailand for two years.
He said 1,500 people in 430 families were under 14-day surveillance for the disease in Thung Saliam district.
People living in the infected area were being monitored for 14 days from Oct 28 as required by Public Health Ministry measures.
Since early this year about 70 people were suspected to have contracted bird flu, with five suspected cases this month. In each case, lab tests had found no infection.Dr Somchai said doctors and health officials from nine provinces considered at risk of bird flu would attend a meeting on Thursday.

http://www.ascareer.com/2008/12/05/sukhothai-bird-flu-outbreak-under-control/

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: Thailand: suspected bird flu patients in Surin Province

Commentary

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/12...hailand_5.html

Commentary

Five Suspect H5N1 Patients In Thailand
Recombinomics Commentary 15:50
December 10, 2008

Deputy Chief of Surin Public Health Office, Peerasak Polprueksa, has revealed that five patients are now under close watch as they are suspected of being infected with bird flu after handling poultry that died 7 to 14 days ago.

Two of the suspected bird flu patients are from Karb Cheong District, another two from Muang and Sanom districts, and one is Cambodian.

The above comments describe five suspect H5N1 patients in Thailand, near the Cambodian border (see satellite map). These patients are not near the H5N1 outbreaks reported by Thailand last month, which were in northern Thailand. OIE reports have been filed for those outbreaks, and sequences have already been made public. The sequences were clade 1, which cause human fatalities in Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia on 2004 and 2005.

Cambodia has not reported any recent outbreaks, and the outbreaks reported by Vietnam were also not near the above location. The same is true for outbreaks in Laos. (see satellite map). The sequences released from outbreaks in Vietnam and Laos last year were the Fujian strain (clade 2.3), and have also been isolated from fatal cases.

More information on the outbreak in poultry as well as more detail on the suspect patients would be useful.


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[Laidback Al]

Re: Thailand: suspected bird flu patients in Surin Province

Location map of the three districts in Surin Province where five individuals are suspected of bird flu infections. Four are from the districts marked, the fifth is a Cambodian, presumably from across the border near Kap Choeng District.