First Cases Of Bird Flu Confirmed In Thailand

[george]

Thread contd. from here: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=5318

BREAKING NEWS: First case of Bird flu confirmed in Thailand

BANGKOK: Thailand’s first case of bird flu was confirmed on Thursday as the World Health Organisation (WHO) said it feared the H5N1 strain was spreading across Asia.

A Thai senator said a child from Thailand’s Suphan Buri province had tested positive, after the government admitted three people were being tested for the fatal disease.

Senator Nirun Phitakwatchara accused Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s office of covering up the outbreak of the disease, after repeatedly denying bird flu had hit Thailand.

"All the academics and experts have had to shut up due to political interference. As a matter of fact they realised that the outbreak had occurred since last November," he said.

Thailand’s announcement came as Bod Dietz, the UN health agency's spokesman in Vietnam, said there were "mounting opportunities" for the virus to mutate.

"We see this as an issue of growing concern that more countries have H5N1 infections among poultry stock," Mr Dietz said.

"Although we have seen no evidence of human-to-human transmission, the next step would be for that to occur.

"It is impossible to predict a time or date for this but there are mounting opportunities for the virus to alter its form and begin affecting the human population," he said.

Meanwhile, the WHO said on Thursday a prototype vaccine to protect humans from the avian influenza could be ready for clinical testing shortly.

It said "a prototype virus could be made available to vaccine manufacturing companies within about four weeks," but that it would take several steps before the vaccine could be ready for use in humans.

--World News 2004-01-22

Related links:

Facts About Bird Flu Outbreak In Asia

BIRD FLU FEARS: 'Thai Govt is lying about crisis'

Consumer panic braising Thai chicken farmers financial ruin

[Apothecary]

Senator Nirun Phitakwatchara accused Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s office of covering up the outbreak of the disease, after repeatedly denying bird flu had hit Thailand.

It's amazing. What goes around comes around.

Wonder who will take blame for this?

"All the academics and experts have had to shut up due to political interference. As a matter of fact they realised that the outbreak had occurred since last November," he said.

It's outrageous. To put health risks below economic gain.

But such is the way of the world of the politican.

Taksin, are you satisfied now?

[castelleone]

It is so frustrating.

Why for heaven`s sake governments always lie in the first place. What is not supposed to be true, cannot be true!

The outbreak of this chickens desease is only one problem. What makes more damage to the of own and the foreign people, is the decline of confidence.

We are simply being manipulated.

Now tell us the truth, please!

[KevinN]

I for one,do not understand why this happens in a "democratic monarchy",why papers can be told what to print and what people can say,,I can understand how china was able to keep the SARs thing under wraps last year,but they are a communist govt. and not a "Democratic" govt.

You are not allowed to voice anything that is in the least bit negative about the operation of the Thai Govt. or about the Thai people or your posts will be deleted and from what I understand,the news media is restricted in the same way as it was in the USSR,Germany in the early 40s, China and other communist run countrys.

Seems to me that people need to know what is really going on to be able to protect them selves and to make intelligent choices,but due to the fact that I do not have a PHD in anything,maybe I am wrong. But still seems to me that to become an "economic giant" you would need to know what to do and what not to do to be a success at anything.

If everything you hear is positive then it would stand to reason that you are doing the right thing.

[george]

Update:

Thailand denies covering up bird flu cases

BANGKOK - The Thai government said on Thursday it is not covering up cases of the bird flu that has killed at least five people in Vietnam and threatens the world with an epidemic worse than SARS.

The English-language Nation newspaper quoted unnamed medical sources as saying several Thais had died of bird flu but health officials were too scared to speak out because of a "government cover-up". A senator said he knew of one case.

But Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan dismissed the talk.

"We have nothing to hide," Sudarat told a radio station.

"At the moment I would like to ask everyone not to believe in rumours since we are following the prime minister's advice to handle everything transparently," she said a day after revealing three Thais were being tested for bird flu.

Rumours of bird flu infections in humans have swirled in Thailand since Vietnam confirmed cases this month and have made the Thai stock market, the world's best performing bourse last year, very nervous.

"It would affect tourism and investment," said Syrus Securities analyst Somchai Anektaweepan. "It's not just about not being able to eat chicken."

An independent senator who is also a doctor, Nirun Phitakwagchara, told Reuters laboratory tests had confirmed seven-year-old Virat Phrapong had contracted the disease in Suphanburi province, 100 km north of Bangkok.

"The lab test has shown that the boy who is being treated at a hospital in Suphanburi province has contracted avian influenza H5N1," Nirun said. "I have got the information from a reliable source, but I cannot name the name."

The hospital declined to comment.

BIG FEARS

There is no evidence of avian flu H5N1 passing from person to person, health officials say. All of the victims in Vietnam are thought to have caught it from sick chickens.

But the greatest fear among experts is that the virus could combine with a human flu virus to produce a contagious and deadly disease against which people have no defence.

Bird flu has also emerged in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan in recent weeks. Hong Kong said on Wednesday the H5N1 virus had been found in a dead wild bird.

Cambodia is awaiting results from a Paris laboratory to know whether several hundred chickens which died near Phnom Penh were killed by the flu.

The World Health Organisation is battling the disease in much the same way as it fought last year's epidemic of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, another disease that crossed from the animal world to humans.

Suspected suffers and those they came into contact with are isolated with medical staff in full protective garb, as they did with the SARS outbreak in China, where people were so scared the teeming streets of Beijing were almost empty at one point.

Experts say eating cooked chicken or eggs carries no danger.

Health Minister Sudarat revealed three Thais were being tested for the disease on Wednesday, just a couple of hours after insisting, again, that Thailand was free of bird flu.

Thailand's huge chicken industry, which earns $1 billion in exports a year, is battling poultry cholera, which cannot jump to humans.

Nearly a million chickens have died of it or been killed for showing symptoms and the government has embarked on a massive operation to prevent its spread.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra urged reporters to be careful how they handled the story.

"I am not worried about the outbreak, but I am more worried about the media's misunderstanding," he told them. "This is not a joke. If you overplay this, other countries could become panicky and stop buying chicken from us."

--Reuters 2004-01-22

[Lifelover]

Spot on Kevin!

Thank goodness for the likes of Senators Nirun and Surin, who dare to speak out. Wonder what will happen to them...

[george]

WHO warns of H5N1 bird flu mutating

BANGKOK: The World Health Organisation said it was concerned the H5N1 strain of bird flu was spreading across Asia and providing "mounting opportunities" for the virus to change into a far more lethal form.

The UN health agency's warning followed claims by a Thai politician that a seven-year-old boy in Thailand had contracted the potentially fatal disease and that two other people were being tested for infection.

"The spread of the virus is so wide across such a large part of Asia that we see there is a reason for growing concern," Bob Dietz, the WHO's spokesman in Vietnam, told AFP. "The more widespread it becomes the more chance there is that it could alter its form."

At least five people have died from the H5N1 virus in Vietnam, while 17 others suspected of contracting it remain hospitalised.

Japan, South Korea and Taiwan are also battling their own bird flu outbreaks but have not reported any cases of human infection.

The WHO says the five victims in Vietnam were infected after coming into contact with droppings from sick birds. But Dietz warned that human-to-human transmission was "a possible next step" if the virus keeps spreading.

"It is impossible to predict a time or date for this but there are mounting opportunities for the virus to alter its form and begin affecting the human population," he said.

The WHO has warned that the world could face another influenza pandemic if H5N1 swaps genes with a common flu virus, creating a lethal pathogen that could spread around the globe within months.

An estimated 50 million people died from the great influenza pandemic of 1918-1919. This was followed by pandemics in 1957-1958 and 1968-1969. Another is considered inevitable and possibly imminent.

Only the swift culling of 1.4 million birds in Hong Kong during an outbreak of H5N1 there in 1997 that killed six people averted a global health crisis, according to the UN agency.

Meanwhile, Thai senator Nirun Phitakwatchara accused the government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra of covering up an outbreak of bird flu in order to protect its chicken industry, which is Asia's largest.

He urged the government to come clean with the public and admit that the outbreak of "fowl cholera and bronchitis" it is fighting, which has left one million chickens dead or culled, is in fact avian influenza.

"All the academics and experts have had to shut up due to political interference. As a matter of fact they realised that the outbreak had occurred since last November," he told AFP.

The senator said the infected boy was in a serious condition in hospital. The second patient, a chicken butcher, needed further testing. He said he had no information on the third suspected sufferer.

Thaksin, however, denied a cover-up, and said it would take several days to confirm the status of the suspected cases.

China, which is considered a hotbed of viruses, has yet to report any outbreak of bird flu, triggering fears that it might be hiding cases as it did during last year's SARS crisis.

These were heightened after Hong Kong announced that a wild falcon found dead near a chicken farm had tested positive for H5N1.

The WHO has pressed Beijing for more information and warned that bird flu could be even more destructive than SARS, which killed 349 people in China out of nearly 800 people worldwide.

Disease control experts say that failure to tackle bird flu in its infancy could allow the virus to spread though chicken populations, altering its genetic make-up along the way and possibly becoming more pathogenic.

Vietnam reportedly suffered a bird flu outbreak in the northern province of Vinh Phuc in July last year that was covered up by the government.

--AP 2004-01-22

[cdub]

Why for heaven`s sake governments always lie in the first place. What is not supposed to be true, cannot be true!

Not ALL the governements !

For instance, Vietnam have had a pretty good and open minded reaction. Like for the Sars outbreak last year, they managed to go "beyond" their f### dinosaure communist spirit in order to contain the outbreak and to play the transparency card.

Simply to face reality, because they KNOW that they can't react to a contagious disease the same way they deal with a political opponent...

On the contrary, Thai's governement, so called "modern" and "democratic", haven't learned any lesson from Sars last year.

So here is the frustrating point ! Hanoi plays good and modern when Bangkok fells into the worst and weirdest "ridicule".

Thaksin ? **** (the chicken leg).

!

Christophe

Inappropriate and crass.

Edited January 24, 2004 by IT Manager

[plachon]

I for one,do not understand why this happens in a "democratic monarchy",why papers can be told what to print and what people can say,,I can understand how china was able to keep the SARs thing under wraps last year,but they are a communist govt. and not a "Democratic" govt.

You are not allowed to voice anything that is in the least bit negative about the operation of the Thai Govt. or about the Thai people or your posts will be deleted and from what I understand,the news media is restricted in the same way as it was in the USSR,Germany in the early 40s, China and other communist run countrys.

Seems to me that people need to know what is really going on to be able to protect them selves and to make intelligent choices,but due to the fact that I do not have a PHD in anything,maybe I am wrong. But still seems to me that to become an "economic giant" you would need to know what to do and what not to do to be a success at anything.

If everything you hear is positive then it would stand to reason that you are doing the right thing.

Wake up! Kevin dearest and take a long close look at your own country before talking about press manipulation in Thailand or elsewhere. I know it goes against your long-held beliefs of what your country stands for, but if you cleared your head for one minute of accumulated gunk, you'd soon find it ain't that much different from the sitaution here. Corporations Rule! rather than individuals, but the end result ain't much different - Censorship.

[george]

Deadly Bird Flu Probably in Thailand - Prime Minister Thaksin

BANGKOK: Thailand’s prime minister said today that lab test results would “most likely” show that the country is facing an outbreak of bird flu, after days of official denials that the disease had devastated local poultry farms.

“We don’t have test results yet, but in the testing it looks like it most likely is (bird flu),” Thaksin Shinawatra told reporters. “If it is (bird flu) then we will tell you. We won’t cover it up.”

Thaksin said there are now five potential cases of the disease and that some test results would be available later in the day. The fifth possible case has emerged in central Chachoengsao province, he said, after officials earlier said four were being investigated.

Public health minister Sudarat Keyuraphun said three people had been tested for bird flu so far, but that one or two additional cases were being considered for testing.

The Thai government had vehemently denied that the avian disease, which has ravaged chicken populations in other Asian countries, has also struck Thailand. Farmers and others allege the government has perpetrated a massive cover-up to protect lucrative chicken exports.

Officials had maintained that chickens at local farms have been infected by poultry cholera and diseases caused by sharp temperature drops rather than bird flu.

Shares in major Thai chicken producers plunged today. A day earlier, Japan suspended all imports of Thai chicken meat.

A high-profile senator raised alarms about bird flu in Thailand yesterday when he claimed that a seriously ill boy was confirmed as its first human case. Thaksin said at the time that it would be days before lab tests could show whether the child was a victim of the virus.

Before Thaksin spoke today, a doctor said that the seven-year-old boy was critical condition at a hospital in central Thailand, and that he probably had been infected with bird flu. He said the boy’s twin brother was also taken to hospital but was in a stable condition.

For days, Thaksin’s government had dismissed claims by farmers that bird flu had infiltrated Thailand, though millions of chickens have dropped dead or been culled in recent weeks. The health minister denied any cover-up.

Politicians outside the government urged it to be upfront about the boy’s case, saying Thailand should not follow the example of China, which disastrously tried to hide details about Sars, leading to a global health crisis last year.

Worried by the confusion, Japan – a major market – announced an immediate ban on Thai chicken imports yesterday. Thailand is among the world’s top five poultry exporters and stocks in its multibillion-pound industry dived as much as 7.15 on the Stock Exchange of Thailand.

--Agencies 2004-01-23

[Pink Mist]

FYI the bird flu ha been reported here in South OZ as recording a death tonight

[george]

EU bans Thai poultry - Two Thais confirmed having the bird flu virus

THE EUROPEAN Commission banned all imports of poultry from Thailand today as a precaution against the spread of bird flu.

The ban was proposed by EU food safety Commissioner David Byrne and swiftly endorsed after confirmation from Thailand of an outbreak of bird flu in poultry.

"There is no evidence of a problem in Europe and this measure is purely a precaution," said a Commission spokeswoman.

The deadly bird flu virus has already killed five people in Vietnam and millions of chickens across Asia.

Two boys were declared bird flu cases in Thailand today as the Bangkok government ended days of denial and admitted it was battling an outbreak of the virus.

Scientists fear that as it spreads it could mutate into a more virulent form and perhaps become a global epidemic.

In Bangkok, officials said tests had shown that the disease was present in Thailand’s poultry population and had been passed on to the boys aged six and seven, and possibly two other people now under surveillance.

The news of the ban could spell out economic trouble for Thailand as Japan has already halted the import of chicken from the country.

Thailand is the only Asian country from which the EU imports poultry - 120,000 tonnes in 2002 and 128,000 tonnes in 2003.

--The Sun 2004-01-23

[BlackJack]

history

before we had all the chemical sprayed on plants and vegetables to keep away the bug resulting in these carcinogens causing millions to develop cancers

then we had the use of anti biotics in the food chain for animals and birds causing resistant strains of bacteria and (possibly) more stronger mutating virus (i know bacteria/virus is different)

however the real clanger will be the GM foods animals fish etc

SARS, bird flu, Aids will look like kiddies play when one day you start growing corn out your ears

[mrentoul]

The ban was proposed by EU food safety Commissioner David Byrne and swiftly endorsed after confirmation from Thailand of an outbreak of bird flu in poultry.

This is the same guy who confidently proclaimed on a visit to Bangkok a few days ago that Thailand was free of bird flu.

He spent an hour with Thaksin the same day. That guy certainly has the power of persuasion.

The good news is that Thaksin denies there was ever any cover-up. He never denied bird flu was here, he says; he just urged people to wait for test results!

What a relief. Confidence restored!

The health ministry said two boys have been confirmed with bird flu. On the same day, the agriculture ministry said bird flu has been found in a chicken carcass on a Suphan Buri farm.

Both ministries had vehemently denied that the disease was afflicting chickens or humans.

Another patient, a chicken farmer, may already have died from the disease, and another two boys are suspected of having it. That's five potential or confirmed cases, and all came to light in one day?

I look forward to seeing the print media take Thaksin to task for covering up bird flu.

Now, here's something I wrote yesterday (and didn't post), before bird flu was confirmed:

When scientists, vets and farmers say they have been muzzled, then most readers will take that to mean someone is trying to hide something.

It may well be that Thailand has been dealing with another kind of bird disease at the same time, though it seems a bizarre coincidence.

In the West, an enterprising journalist would have asked a lab to run independent checks for bird flu, if necessary - though hopefully the government would have come to the party long before.

The other day a senior World Health Organisation guy visited Bangkok. Ministers fell over themselves to say he was not here because of bird flu, but to inspect Thailand's food sanitation systems.

In one news item I saw, officials were said to be eager to show the visitor just how well they had been doing.

That kind of reportage is just bilious - it's almost as if white ants are knawing away at the foundations of journalists' honest efforts to report the facts.

It says something about the culture of news gathering here - where reporters fawn over their ''sources'' and allow the government to co-opt them as mouthpieces - that such nonsense could be put up as news.

Thousands of chicken stock have been killed, farms closed and people thrown out of work, but some idiot reporter wants us to know that officials are eager to impress the WTO.

As it happens, European Union Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection David Byrne was impressed.

According to the Bangkok Post, he expressed confidence that Thailand was free from avian flu and lauded progress in food safety control.

Test results have now confirmed that Thailand does indeed have bird flu. How much time has Thaksin gained: a couple of days? Stock culling carried on regardless, which was sensible. But how much credibility has the government lost?

He's not alone; apparently Indonesia, where birds are also dying, is insisting it doesn't have bird flu either. Must be bird cholera, then, just like in Thailand.

Back to Thaksin: he reckons he can control the impact of bird flu in 30 days, even though it has an incubation period of 40 days.

He says the government will explain the situation to nations doubting the safety of Thai chickens.

But they have reason for doubts: Thai chickens have flu!

[megashox]

This is the same guy who confidently proclaimed on a visit to Bangkok a few days ago that Thailand was free of bird flu.

He spent an hour with Thaksin the same day. That guy certainly has the power of persuasion.

He was probably kept busy checking the wrong type of birds!

[george]

Thailand hit with devastating import bans as bird flu confirmed

Thai stock market down

BANGKOK : Thailand said that the bird flu which has killed five people in Vietnam had infected humans and chickens here, triggering import bans on its billion-dollar chicken exporting industry.

Neighbouring Cambodia became the sixth country to report an outbreak of the disease Friday, with the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) saying it had been detected among chickens on a farm outside the capital Phnom Penh.

As shares in Thai agricultural firms plummeted and analysts warned the lucrative tourism industry could be harmed, premier Thaksin Shinawatra appealed for calm and said he was confident panic would not grip the stock exchange.

"It's a short-term effect as the bourse is sensitive to psychological factors. The hard hit sector will be the poultry industry," said Thaksin, who on Tuesday ate chicken in a stunt to boost confidence in the industry.

Thailand's biggest poultry buyer Japan ordered a import ban on Thursday and the European Union, which is the industry's second-biggest customer, said Friday it would follow suit.

"Although the risk of importing the virus in meat or meat products is probably very low, the Commission wants to make sure that any possible transmission is avoided," it said in a statement from Brussels.

Another 17 people in Vietnam are believed to be infected with the H5N1 strain of avian influenza which has also been reported in Japan and South Korea. A weaker strain, H5N2, has been found at a farm in Taiwan.

The Philippines Friday halted poultry imports from all Asian countries, Hong Kong tightened a ban on affected countries to include Thailand, and Bangladesh suspended imports of chickens from Thailand and other Asian nations.

The Thai stock market's main index slipped 5.73 points or 0.75 percent to 750.47 as investors took fright at the news which came after weeks of denials.

As the gloom deepened, shares in Thai food giant Charoen Pokphand's sank 0.22 baht or 5.5 percent to 3.78 (0.10 dollars) Friday while another major exporter, GFPT, sank 2.30 baht or 10.6 percent to 19.40.

Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan confirmed that bird flu had been detected in two boys from provinces west of Bangkok where a chicken disease identified until now as fowl cholera and bronchitis has been raging.

Sudarat said three other people were being tested for bird flu and that the results would be finalised in several days, while all those in contact with the boys had been ordered to observe a 10-day quarantine.

The agriculture ministry said testing on the chicken disease, which has hit 16 provinces and forced a cull of up to seven million chickens, had confirmed the presence of bird flu in the worst-hit region of Suphan Buri.

Thaksin, who is battling allegations of a cover-up, denied the government had hidden evidence of bird flu and said the health ministry had already been working on the crisis before official confirmation of the disease.

"Please trust the government. It did not make an announcement in the very beginning because it did not want the public to panic," he said.

"Please realise that the government has done more than the public was aware of."

The epidemic has already led to the culling or deaths of more than 2.5 million chickens in Vietnam, nearly two million in South Korea, 55,000 in Taiwan and 35,000 in Japan.

The FAO said Friday it was concerned that Vietnam was not culling enough chickens to contain its outbreak, but its Cambodian representatives were working with the government there to devise a plan to deal with the outbreak.

The watchdog veterinary agency for trade in farm animals, the Paris-based World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), said there were grounds for "serious concern for the animal epidemiological situation" in Thailand.

The OIE recommended increasing surveillance and mounting an active search for the disease, and offered its assistance in the testing process.

China has yet to report any outbreak, but Hong Kong has said that a wild falcon found dead near a chicken farm had tested positive for H5N1.

The World Health Organisation said Friday that the virus may be more established in Asia than previously thought. It also fears that as the virus spreads across the region it could mutate into a far more lethal form.

-- AFP 2004-01-23

[pal78]

Now tell us the truth, please!

The truth is that people are very jumpy and easy to control when they are this jumpy. "SARS is killing people all over Asia"... ok we won't go there. "People in UK are dieing of Mad Cow"... ok let's stop eating beef. "People in Thailand are getting bird flue"... ok no more chicken either.

Isn't it fantastic for everyone to think about 2 people with bird flu, (one has died?) and consider that to be so serious that we can overlook all the other (in my opinion) more important issues.

Given the amount of news coverage SARS was afforded you would be forgiven for thinking that it was the biggest killer last year. So massive was the coverage that I flew to Bangkok on a EVA Air flight that was less than 1/3 full. People were scared for their lives that they too would get this "deadly virus". In the same time 1000's of cases of a strange flu like virus with resporatory symptoms in the US were called "flu" not SARS. And people died there too... but it wasn't the virus that killed them.

The media, the government and we ourselves are doing a great job in focusing all our attention on little small things so that we can ignore the facts around us and the government have us believing that the biggest wrong they have done receintly is lieing to us about bird flu.

Over 4 Million people have died in the fighting in Congo in the last 10 years, but some ###### in Iraq gets all the attention. Smoking kills millions every year and Bird Flu gets all our attention. More people died of reactions to medicine they were given than died of SARS, but guess which one the governments and media manage to focus our attention on.

Eat chicken and get bird flu. I'd prefer to keep some farmers in Thailand in business and risk a 2 in 60,000,000 odds of getting bird flu than to smoke 20 a day and risk any number of deaths while keeping some rich guys rich but people choose to do that and don't seem to complain much about it, or the fact that the government are in bed with the tabaco industry.

I don't know about you guys, but I think there must be more important issues in the world that we should spend our energies thining about than a government trying to cover up an "outbreak" of bird flu.

[mrentoul]

"Please trust the government. It did not make an announcement in the very beginning because it did not want the public to panic," he said

Oh, an *official* cover-up...well, that's OK then!

[mrentoul]

Test results have now confirmed that Thailand does indeed have bird flu. How much time has Thaksin gained: a couple of days? Stock culling carried on regardless, which was sensible. But how much credibility has the government lost?

It's about credibility and trust, pal78. Don't they count for something in your world?

[pal78]

Test results have now confirmed that Thailand does indeed have bird flu. How much time has Thaksin gained: a couple of days? Stock culling carried on regardless, which was sensible. But how much credibility has the government lost?

It's about credibility and trust, pal78. Don't they count for something in your world?

Yes they do. I am not suggesting that we should trust a government that tries to get us thinking that bird flu is really important by lieing about it etc. Look at us all! Is bird flu really that big a deal? What I am saying is not that the government is right, far from it. I am suggesting that bird flu, SARS and BSE are useful to the governments to keep our attention of the "real" issues that they should be dealing with.

In "my world" governments cannot be trusted and the question you point at me should be sent to Thaksin. The government's credibility is not the issue as far as I'm concerned because they don't have much to begin with.

[mrentoul]

Look at us all! Is bird flu really that big a deal?

Maybe not for you, but certainly for the thousands thrown out of work or whose farms have closed.

'Downstream' markets will also be affected as bans are imposed on chicken imports.

I am not going to engage this silly left-wing, introspective argument any further.

[pal78]

well, ok then. But if you read what I wrote before you would see that I was worried for the jobs of the chicken farmers, and saying that people should eat chicken. Thanks for being so rude though.

[relax]

Suprise!!

Why??? The people in control of the Thailand government are the same as in most every other country.

It's all about MONEY,,,,,,,,,,,POWER,,,,,,,,,,, and CONTROL.

The people of this world have lost control over their governments, or better yet, the control has been taken by the powerful and the rich!

Most of us have little or no say on what our government do,, we are just along for the ride,, so hold on as long as you can!!!!!

[frodo]

BANGKOK, Thailand - A Thai man suspected of having bird flu died Friday, the Public Health Minister said, though it still has not been confirmed he had the disease.

Thailand on Friday announced officially that two hospitalized boys have been confirmed as having bird flu, and three other persons — including the man who has now died — were suspected of having the disease.

Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphun said in an interview with the ITV television network that the man, in Chachoengsao province, 30 kilometers (19 miles) east of Bangkok, had not been confirmed to have had bird flu.

"This evening, in Chachoengsao, a suspect case died, a man," she said. "This is a suspect case... we have to wait for lab results."

A health ministry spokeswoman confirmed the man's death, and said his initial diagnosis showed that he suffered from a bacterial infection, but that they were awaiting further test results.

If it was confirmed he had bird flu, it would be the first known fatality from the disease in Thailand. Five people in Vietnam have died of the disease.

Bird flu kills Thai man

Wonder if toxin will pay the family 1million baht as he promised last week?

[pal78]

I am not going to engage this silly left-wing, introspective argument any further.

I didn't think it was introspective to consider the bigger picture, thought that was the opposite. But maybe I'm mistaken.

[mrentoul]

The health ministry said two boys have been confirmed with bird flu. On the same day, the agriculture ministry said bird flu has been found in a chicken carcass on a Suphan Buri farm.

Both ministries had vehemently denied that the disease was afflicting chickens or humans.

Another patient, a chicken farmer, may already have died from the disease, and another two boys are suspected of having it. That's five potential or confirmed cases, and all came to light in one day?

The farmer death is included in the latest tally of five confirmed or suspected cases.

[Davidcharles]

Now tell us the truth, please!

The truth is that people are very jumpy and easy to control when they are this jumpy. "SARS is killing people all over Asia"... ok we won't go there. "People in UK are dieing of Mad Cow"... ok let's stop eating beef. "People in Thailand are getting bird flue"... ok no more chicken either.

Isn't it fantastic for everyone to think about 2 people with bird flu, (one has died?) and consider that to be so serious that we can overlook all the other (in my opinion) more important issues.

Given the amount of news coverage SARS was afforded you would be forgiven for thinking that it was the biggest killer last year. So massive was the coverage that I flew to Bangkok on a EVA Air flight that was less than 1/3 full. People were scared for their lives that they too would get this "deadly virus". In the same time 1000's of cases of a strange flu like virus with resporatory symptoms in the US were called "flu" not SARS. And people died there too... but it wasn't the virus that killed them.

The media, the government and we ourselves are doing a great job in focusing all our attention on little small things so that we can ignore the facts around us and the government have us believing that the biggest wrong they have done receintly is lieing to us about bird flu.

Over 4 Million people have died in the fighting in Congo in the last 10 years, but some ###### in Iraq gets all the attention. Smoking kills millions every year and Bird Flu gets all our attention. More people died of reactions to medicine they were given than died of SARS, but guess which one the governments and media manage to focus our attention on.

Eat chicken and get bird flu. I'd prefer to keep some farmers in Thailand in business and risk a 2 in 60,000,000 odds of getting bird flu than to smoke 20 a day and risk any number of deaths while keeping some rich guys rich but people choose to do that and don't seem to complain much about it, or the fact that the government are in bed with the tabaco industry.

I don't know about you guys, but I think there must be more important issues in the world that we should spend our energies thining about than a government trying to cover up an "outbreak" of bird flu.

Excellent Pal!

Dead right Buddy......

I am still coming to LOS in five weeks time chicken Flu or no Chicken bloody Flu!

[george]

Capital under close watch

BANGKOK: Bangkok is on high alert for bird flu and all possible measures to prevent the spread of the disease into the city have been taken, city officials say.

All markets in the city's 50 districts will be checked and strictly controlled, said Dr Pitinan Nattharutchirot, the city's deputy permanent secretary.

Pitinan said he had urged the Department of Health to check all meat markets, including 86 markets which are privately run.

He said he had called on health officials to discover the source of chickens in each market and make sure they met health standards. Officials had also been sent to check poultry farms in surrounding communities. In Bangkok, most chickens are raised in small enterprises and Pitinan stressed that any deaths among chickens there must be reported immediately to the authorities.

Pitinan said that as of yesterday, there had been no reports of chicken deaths and no reports of possible bird flu disease in Bangkok. However, public-health measures are in place in the city and suburban areas, particularly those east of the city, including Min Buri, Nong Chok and Lat Krabang, where there are many chicken farms.

Arrangements had been made for local hospitals to quarantine patients suspected of suffering from bird flu and to inform local officials immediately.

--The Nation 2004-01-24

[Thaiquila]

I beg to differ.

This chicken flu is potentially much more serious.

Disease specialists are saying there is a good chance the chicken flu virus (chicken to chicken and chicken to human) will mutate with a human to human flu virus. As this a very severe strain of flu, this could mean another international fatal flu pandemic, the kind that kills many millions of people.

Not to panic, but that is the real fear, and it should be taken seriously.

[KevinN]

PLACHON; You are wrong,,in the US,the press is not muzzled,a lot of press just doesn't report things the way they really are,but they are not prohibited,certainly some reporters do hide things,but that is their own doings for the browny points or hard dollars,And the prez might be to stupid to know the truth if it bit him on the ass, but the truth will always be in some news,You just have to be smart enough to winnow the chaff from the grain,from what I hear the press is muzzled here by upper level politicians.

And here is this PAL78 bitching about the quarantines and restrictions put on because of SARS and a very low death rate,maybe the death rate was so low because the rules were set to prevent a major disaster,and maybe it never came to pass because of the quick thinking of Viet Nam ,USA and Canada.Not because there was no reason to worry.and to even mention the deaths due to warring factions and mans inhumanity to man in the same context as the deaths from epidemic is just pure stupidity.

So stick that in your pipe and smoke it.