Chicken Illnesses: Egg Warning Issued

[george]

CHICKEN ILLNESSES: Egg warning issued

BANGKOK: The Public Health Ministry yesterday warned people against eating raw or semicooked eggs in any form for fear of contracting diseases that have killed almost a million chickens since November.

Meanwhile, Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan insisted that the chicken deaths were not caused by the birdflu virus and that initial tests had indicated a chicken butcher in Nakhon Sawan had contracted a bacterial infection, and not birdflu, as suggested by a senator from the central province.

Sudarat said the Cabinet wanted her ministry to protect people from being infected by the cholera and bronchitis outbreak by refraining from eating semiboiled eggs, fried eggs with raw yokes, or ice cream topped with raw egg yoke.

She said the Agriculture Ministry had also been ordered to ensure that no chicken meat from diseasehit areas was released on the market.

Sudarat said the Public Health Ministry had been closely monitoring the symptoms of the hospitalised chicken butcher from the beginning, but had not made any announcement on the case because it was still awaiting final confirmation on the cause of his illness. She said results from laboratory tests would be released in two or three days, confirming whether he had bird flu or not.

She said that in the chicken butcher’s case her ministry was using the same safety measures as those employed to prevent the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars). Sudarat said 56 people from six families in the man’s neighbourhood would be kept under close surveillance by publichealth officials for 10 days.

Dr Jaral Trinwutthipong, directorgeneral of the Disease Control Department, said the man’s condition had improved. He said blood tests so far indicated that the butcher had a bacterial infection, not a viral infection.

The Nakhon Sawan senator, Malinee Sukwetchavarakij, said yesterday that she had not claimed the man had bird flu, only that his symptoms appeared to indicate he did. She said she wanted the Public Health Ministry and the World Health Organisation to investigate the case and reveal the truth to the public so that people could prepare themselves for any possible danger.

Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister Somsak Thepsuthin threatened to jail any chicken farmers who did not allow authorities to destroy their poultry stocks to halt the spread of cholera and bronchitis among the animals.

Somsak said the government had yet to completely stem the outbreak because farmers in some areas had refused to allow Livestock Development Department officials to destroy their chickens.

The minister declined to name the areas, but on Monday Somsak’s deputy, Newin Chidchob, said farmers in Suphan Buri had yet to allow the authorities to slaughter their chickens. Somsak said the farmers believed they could earn more money by selling their eggs than the compensation being offered by the government.

The diseasecontrol measures require poultry in a fivekilometre radius of an infected chicken to be destroyed by burial and no poultry in a 50kilometre radius to be transported without a diseasefree certificate from Livestock Development officials.

The minister said he had instructed provincial governors to inform the farmers in question that they would be subject to fines and imprisonment if they refused to comply with the disease control law.

He said Livestock Development officials had already designated areas of outbreak, pending the slaughter of the animals. Somsak said the authorities would know the exact number of chickens to be culled by Sunday.

--The Nation 2004-01-21

[homeless007]

As usual, all bs an they are stupid enough to to think the worl is believing their tactics...

[sanook]

Icecream has raw eggs in it, soooo.....

[drbones666]

Icecream has raw eggs in it, soooo.....

Actually sir, Ice cream does not. Frozen Custard does but it uses pasturized egg yokes. I don't think there are any frozen custard outlets in BKK.

No offense, not a flame.

[pnustedt]

Many moons ago a politician in the UK (Edwina Currie) wrecked her career by stating that ALL chickens and their eggs carry the salmonella bacteria. However, the statement is true and it is most unwise to eat raw eggs or uncooked (or undercooked) chicken under any circumstances.

The way chickens (and other animals) are slaughtered in Asia is also particularly unhygienic and fraught with potential danger.

There was a particularly worrying strain of Avian 'flu outbreak in HK in 1996/7 where the virus had crossed from chickens to humans and showed signs of being able to transmit from human to human. Fortunately it was controlled on that occasion. The potential for a pandemic was very real.

I don't think that the Thai authorities would say that don't have the avian 'flu virus if they have - the stakes are too high.

[huski]

"However, the statement is true and it is most unwise to eat raw eggs"

what about sly stallone in ROCKY, he ate those raw eggs and became world heavy weight champion. oh well, only in the movies...

[A. BOOZER]

In response to PNUSTEDT's mailing, was it the eggs or had Edwina just fallen out of John Major's bed - sorry - nest!