Fourth Thai dies of bird flu

BANGKOK (Reuters) - A seven-year-old Thai boy given only a 30 percent chance of surviving bird flu has died, becoming the country's fourth confirmed death from the disease, chief government spokesman Jakrapob Penkair says.

Officials said the dead boy's twin brother, who had been in hospital briefly as a suspected victim of the avian influenza which has leapt to humans in Vietnam and Thailand, had proved not to have the virus.

Bird flu has now killed 13 people in the two countries.

"The younger of the twins who has bird flu has died," Jakrapob told a news conference on Tuesday.

Since the government admitted Thailand had an outbreak of the avian influenza last month, it has also had 18 more suspected bird flu victims, 11 of whom have died. Laboratory test have not yet confirmed the deaths were attributable to bird flu.

The twin boy, identified as Virat Phraphong from the major chicken farming province of Suphanburi, had had pneumonia for a month before he was transferred to and put on a respirator the Children's Hospital in Bangkok last month, his doctor said.

Despite the rising toll, Thai officials said on Tuesday they hoped to get rid of the deadly virus this month and poultry farmers should be able resume business by June.

"We want to end it quickly. We will try to finish it within this month," Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak, head of the government's bird flu crisis management team, told reporters.

The number of "red zones" -- the five-km (three-mile) area around a confirmed outbreak within which all poultry must be slaughtered -- had shrunk by half to 18 in seven provinces from 35 in 16 provinces on Monday, Jakrapob said.

Last week, Thailand had red zones in 29 of its 76 provinces.

Deputy Agriculture Minister Newin Chidchop told reporters on Tuesday his ministry would conduct a second round of tests for bird flu in all former red zones next week to see if their cleanup efforts were effective.

"Lab results of these tests will come out from February 20 onward," Newin said. "If they are all proved negative, chicken farming in those areas could resume in 90 days from then."

Officially the death toll is now four but today's Sydney Morning Herald reports ten suspected deaths so far ie Wednesday 4 Feb in Thailand. Strange?

I think that the ten deaths refers to across Asia, i.e. including Vietnam, etc.

RUMOURS ....

two cases in Chiang Mai, can anyone confim this?

if this is true, why nobody talks about?

a friend had all his chicken killed, he's living 25 km from CM...

so, may we conclude that Chiang Mai province had been touched but the silence is kept tight as it is taksin's province ...?

francois

I took my daughter out of school until we will be sure it's 100% safe.

one reason: too many lies can drive to a high risk situation.

In the European newspapers they say that there are 15 confirmed cases of people died from the flu.

4 in LOS and 11 in Vietnam.

Sources are The Times (English) & de Telegraaf (Dutch).

They are suspicios about China the FAO and the WHO thinks they are covering up the truth as well, beqause the newspaper the Standard in Hongkong said they saw papers of effidence that it started in 2001 in Guangdong (source of the papers is the agricultural university of Hunnan.).