Tribal Villager Dies In Chiang Mai Hospital

[Ajarn]

A hilltribe villager in Chiang Mai has died in a new suspected bird flu case while two others are being treated for pneumonia, deputy provincial governor Kwanchai Wongnitikorn said yesterday.

Blood samples have been taken from all three and sent for lab tests in Bangkok, he said.

The hilltribe patient's death was reported by Mae Chaem Hospital. The other two hilltribe villagers are being treated at Fang Hospital.

All schools in the province have been instructed to warn their students to avoid close contact with chickens.

Poultry farmers in the province have taken steps to protect their fowls from the spread of bird flu. Oonruen Tonsak, chairman of the cooperatives of layer chicken farmers in Chiang Mai and Lamphun, said the measures taken included a switch from open-field farming to a closed system.

Mr Oonruen said there was no panic among the local people and the prices of chicken meat and eggs have remained stable.

However, he said a number of small-scale farmers had to give up chicken farming because they did not get any help from the government.

Mr Oonruen said he himself had applied for a 5-million-baht loan under the government's rehabilitation scheme but received no reply.

The Public Health Ministry yesterday added a 13-year-old boy in Chon Daen district of Phetchabun to the list of suspected bird flu patients. He was known to have played with chickens at home before coming down with high fever. All but two of the chickens had since died.

The boy was administered with a special medication to stop the virus from spreading to the lungs.

Health officials in Zone 2 covering five provinces of Phitsanulok, Tak, Sukhothai, Phetchabun and Uttaradit met yesterday to discuss measures to contain the spread of bird flu.

Health volunteers were sent out to check households where chickens died and look for suspected bird flu patients.

In Kanchanaburi province, livestocks officials ordered two farms to cull all their remaining chickens after bird flu infections were detected.

One of the farms is located in tambon Tha Muang, Tha Muang district. A total of 36 chickens had died in four days at the farm owned by Boonruey Khumpan.

The other farm, owned by Duangporn Nutnate, is in tambon Wai Niew, Tha Maka district. A number of chickens at the farm have died since the first bird fell on Sept 29.

Authorities in all 13 districts of Kanchanaburi have been placed on high alert for a possible outbreak of the avain flu.

Meanwhile, the government voiced concern over Hong Kong's travel advisory for all air travellers bound for Thailand to take precautions against the bird flu outbreak in the kingdom.

Disease Control Department chief Thawat Suthrachan said the warning in pamphlets distributed at Hong Kong International Airport could cause misunderstandings and overreaction.

Although the warning was not worded in a way that persuaded travellers to stop visiting Thailand, it could cause them to misunderstand the flu situation in the kingdom, he said.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry would be asked to explain to Hong Kong authorities what efforts the Thai government was making to eradicate the virus and measures already in place.

Dr Thawat said the bird flu scare had caused neighbours to stay away from the cremation of a nine-year-old girl in Phetchabun who was killed by the virus early this week. The girl was the country's fourth confirmed case of human death from bird flu since the virus re-emerged in July.

He said people should not panic since there was still no confirmation the virus could jump from one human to another.

Bkk Post