Bird Flu Fears: 'Govt Is Lying About Crisis'

[Aitit]

True or not true what they say, when I die after eating chicks, at least my family can afford a nice funeral.

IMHO for those offering that million, it is as I would take out 10,-THB from my pocket.

Nice to see the gov keeping up with my posts.

[Aitit]

If they are really shure that there is no bird flu in the thai chicks, so why they don't offer 10 billion THB, nothing to loose, or?

[george]

Chicken butcher isolated with bird flu-like symptoms, officials say

BANGKOK -- A chicken butcher in central Thailand has been isolated in a hospital with symptoms similar to bird flu, but initial tests show he is sick with a bacterial lung infection, officials said.

Further checks are being carried out to determine if the patient has avian influenza.

Officials here have maintained that the disease, which has ravaged chicken farms elsewhere in Asia, hasn't spread to Thailand.

"Doctors are checking his sickness at this moment,'' Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said. "We cannot say that he is sick from bird flu, because so far there is no bird flu found in Thailand.''

He said the butcher's symptoms were similar to those of bird flu, but did not elaborate.

Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan later said preliminary tests of the sick man in Nakhon Sawan province, 210 kilometers (130 miles) north of Bangkok, showed he has a bacterial lung infection.

"The Public Health Ministry has taken blood to test it again at the medical sciences department,'' she said. "We'll know the test results in three to four days and will let the public know.''

--AP 2004-01-20

[plachon]

If they are really shure that there is no bird flu in the thai chicks, so why they don't offer 10 billion THB, nothing to loose, or?

I can personally guarantee that there is no bird flu or disease of any kind in any of the Thai chicks. Any statement to the contrary is absolutely false and libelous. There's no birds of the night neither, and all the chicks are flyers. MOA says so. Guaranteed!

[megashox]

No flu here, says EU health chief

Thailand praised for food safety standards

There's a catch in there somewhere!

[jungleh]

A bit of flu whats all the fuss wrap up warm a cup of lemsip and you'll be as right as rain in a couple of days 3 people died wow i bet more people have died of normal flu in the time it took me to right this email.

I think we are all a bit too paranoid

still eating chicken

[george]

Update:

Three Thais tested for bird flu

BANGKOK - Three Thais who have been in contact with diseased chickens are being tested to see if they have bird flu, which has killed five Vietnamese, Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan said on Wednesday.

"The lab result to confirm whether they have caught bird flu will come out in the next three days and we will make a public announcement on that result," she told reporters a couple of hours after insisting Thailand was free of the disease.

The benchmark stock index fell 1.86 percent at one point on rumours her ministry would hold a news conference to announce the first human case of bird flu.

"Although we have had quite a few pneumonia cases, we have not had any confirmed cases of avian flu," she told reporters earlier in the day. "I don't know where these rumours came from."

Sudarat's denial help pull the index back and it ended the day down 0.67 percent at 776.72 points.

In her second set of comments to reporters, Sudarat said the three people being tested were suffering from what appeared to be pneumonia.

Thailand has suffered an outbreak of poultry cholera since November. That has dented confidence in a major industry, which raises one billion chickens and earns $1 billion in exports each year.

Thai newspapers have reported cases of people working on chicken farms being admitted to hospital as sick birds died or were killed, stirring speculation they might have caught bird flu.

Another government minister said on Wednesday Thailand would slaughter millions of chickens in a bid to halt the spread of cholera.

Since November 21, nearly 900,000 chickens have died in Thailand, of which nearly 30,000 were confirmed to have been killed by cholera and respiratory problems and the rest through culling because they showed symptoms of the disease.

--Reuters 2004-01-21

[george]

BBC Follow up:

Thailand plans mass chicken cull

BANGKOK: Asia's leading chicken exporter, Thailand, is to take more measures to control an outbreak of disease among its poultry with a mass slaughter now scheduled in 20 provinces.

The Thai authorities insist that the illness plaguing its birds is not the avian influenza which has forced the culling of millions of chickens in Vietnam and killed five people.

Instead, the government says it is fowl cholera and bronchitis.

But a lack of public confidence in eating chicken, connected to the bird flu crisis in Vietnam, and an apparent inability to contain infections in the national flock, have led to harsher measures.

According to the agriculture ministry, all birds in the vicinity of affected farms will be killed and a massive testing programme initiated on farms within 50 kilometres of those places.

The agriculture minister has criticised farmers who resisted official attempts to control the disease and has threatened those who refuse to co-operate with legal action.

Many farmers had resisted control measures in anticipation of high sales for Chinese New Year.

But a walk through the markets of Chinatown in Bangkok is enough to see that many Thai families have already shunned the traditional chicken component at their New Year's feast.

Chicken traders complain that sales are much diminished compared with the same time last year.

--BBC 2004-01-21

[george]

3 Thai patients suspected of bird flu infection

BANGKOK: -- The Thai government on Wednesday night admitted three patients with pneumonia-like symptoms were being tested for bird flu infection, local press reported on Thursday.

Tests on blood and sputum samples of the three Thais were beingrun at the Medical Sciences Department of the Public Health Ministry, Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan said after an urgent meeting held on Wednesday evening.

The minister said the results of the test would be available inthree days. The three patients include one butcher, a child and a farmer living in central Thailand.

"We are concerned about human health and have closely monitoredthe possible occurrence of bird flu," the minister was quoted by Bangkok Post as saying.

But Sudarat insisted that no case of bird flu, which has wreaked havoc in Vietnam, Japan and South Korea, had been confirmed in Thailand and the kingdom was still considered free ofthe disease.

The government's declaration of suspected bird flu infection itself was enough to fuel long-existing public concern and suspicion over the situation of the country's poultry industry.

As early as January 14, the Thai government declared the country free of bird flu and attributed large-scale chicken deathson farms to fowl cholera and bronchitis caused by the change of seasons.

Trying to curb the spread of the disease, about 850,000 chickens had been killed since November and the Agriculture Ministry had ordered strict rules to laughter and transport sick chicken in 20 provinces.

The Thai public and farmers however had doubted the government's explanation of the disease devastating the country's poultry population.

A group of consumer rights handed over the parliament a letter accusing the government of covering up the real situation and asking for serious investigation on Jan. 15, one day after Thai Prime Minister Thaksin declared the country free of bird flu.

Local press also reported that some farmers said their chicken died with a swollen body and bleeding, similar to those dying of bird flu.

To prove the country was safe from the attack of bird flu, Sudarat and Thaksin respectively ate chicken before reporters' cameras.

So far, Singapore, Cambodia and Laos have banned import of chicken from Thailand for fear of the foul cholera.

Being the world fourth-largest chicken exporter, Thailand shipped out some 500,000 tons of chicken worth a total of 52 billion baht (about 1.23 US dollars) last year. The kingdom has a target of 600,000 tons of chicken export for this year.

--Agencies 2004-01-22

[george]

First case of Bird flu confirmed in Thailand

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=5473

[Maverick]

what goes around comes around - intensive farming isnt natural or normal and no doubt free range chickens (those annoying local birds that roam about waking people up) dont I suspect get bird flu - same the world over, not just here.

Go organic/free range ie back to nature

Maverick

[dr_Pat_Pong]

The PM didn't lie about the bird 'flu, he just got confused. (again)

[george]

This thread is merged with main thread and continues here:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=5473