More Bird Flu Outbreaks In Thailand

[george]

More bird flu outbreaks in Thailand

Bangkok: Thai authorities on Saturday mopped up four new outbreaks of bird flu, while the World Health Organisation downplayed fears that the discovery of the virus in cats here poses a risk to human health.

The extent of the bird flu outbreak, which has hit 10 Asian nations and the Canadian province of British Columbia, has also spread in the United States with Texas now the fourth state to be hit with a weaker strain.

Canadian authorities said five people on the farm in British Columbia where another milder virus was discovered have fallen ill with flu-like symptoms, but that there was no cause for concern because the strain is mostly harmless.

However, Thailand is among eight regional countries battling the deadly H5N1 variety of bird flu which has killed seven people here and 15 in Vietnam.

Thai scientists Friday said that the highly pathogenic strain had been detected in a leopard, a tiger and two domestic cats, raising fears the disease could be circulating among other mammals.

However, the WHO said that the presence of bird flu in the cat family, while unprecedented was not likely to increase the risk of infection in humans or affect the evolution of the outbreak.

"While conclusions are premature... infection in cats is not considered likely to enhance the present risks to human health," it said.

The health agency has warned H5N1 could kill millions around the globe if it combined with a human influenza virus to create a new highly contagious strain transmissible among humans.

That prospect could become more likely if mammals like pigs are found to carry H5N1, as experts say they are an ideal "mixing vessel" in which viruses swap genes, become more lethal or contagious and then leap to humans.

But of several small mammals which are susceptible to infection with different strains of bird flu, "only the pig has significance for human health," the WHO said in its statement.

The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Agency also said it had not verified the tests on the cats, carried out by a leading Thai university, and that the reports required "more careful scientific analysis."

In the meantime, however, it said that cats and other meat-eating animals like pigs should not be fed with the carcasses of dead or culled chickens.

After announcing Friday that bird flu had been found in four new locations, Thai deputy agriculture minister Newin Chidchob ordered chickens in the zones to be culled within 72 hours, and quarantine to follow for the next 21 days.

The cases were detected in a second round of testing which showed bird flu had re-erupted in a total of 18 locations across the nation, dashing plans to declare the kingdom free of the virus later this month.

The agriculture ministry will begin collecting another 2,000 samples for a third round of testing in mid-March, Newin said.

"A fourth round of tests could begin in late April across the country and after that Thailand will closely monitor the situation by collecting samples every two to three months to ensure consumer safety," he said.

The minister said Thailand needed to upgrade standards in its poultry industry in light of the bird flu crisis which devastated its 1.2 billion dollar poultry exporting business - Asia's largest.

"Even though it will take great effort, tireless work and considerable cost to monitor the new measures, what Thailand has been through was a very expensive lesson for our country," he said.

Thailand has slaughtered some 30 million chickens to eradicate bird flu, part of a regional cull of more than 80 million poultry.

--Agencies 2004-02-22

[one leg bill]

just wondering if cats are geting sick from eating the dead birds whats going on with the rats?

[george]

BIRD FLU: Phuket man suspected of having virus

Officials waiting for lab tests for confirmation

PHUKET: A garbage man being treated at a Phuket hospital is suspected of being another victim of bird flu.

Virat Hongsib-paed, 33, was admitted to hospital on Friday after falling ill with flu-like symptoms a few days after about 50 of his domestic ducks and chicken died en masse, said Saneh Hongsib-paed, the patient’s elder brother.

Saneh said that before Virat became sick he gave away some of the dead chickens to some Burmese workers who became very ill.

The hospital has not allowed Virat’s family to visit him for some reason, said Saneh.

Provincial livestock authorities yesterday disinfected the victim’s house and its immediate surroundings.

However, officials have yet to confirm it as a case of bird flu.

Sunarth Vongchavalit, chief of the Phuket Livestock Office, said the deaths of the fowl at the patient’s house were likely to have been caused by cholera rather than the avian-flu virus because the birds died slowly.

Dr Vanchai Satayavudhipong, the chief provincial health officer, said it remained uncertain whether the patient had the bird-flu virus.

The hospital is awaiting lab-test results from a nearby province, he said.

Vanchai said Virat’s symptoms included severe chest pain, pneumonia and another lung infection.

There are 126 patients with lung infections under observation across the country, said Dr Thawat Sundaracharn, head of the Public Health Ministry’s Bird-Flu Operation Centre.

In addition, there are 21 suspect cases, eight of whom have recovered and been discharged from hospital, while five remain in hospital and the rest have died, he said, adding that the total confirmed number of cases of bird flu in Thailand was nine.

With regard to the cats in Nakhon Pathom that were infected with the H5N1 bird-flu virus, Dr Charal Trinvuthipong, the director-general of the Disease Control Department, insisted that the owners of the cats remained in good health.

“This means the infected cats did not pass the virus on to their owners,” he said.

In Trang province, livestock authorities dismissed news reports that a large number of poultry in the province had been killed by avian flu, saying the domestic fowl simply died of stress caused by hot weather.

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak, who is in charge of the country’s bird-flu task force, is expected to announce today that the four affected areas in Bangkok are free of the infection.

--The Nation 2004-02-23

[george]

BIRD FLU: Phuket man suspected of having virus

Officials waiting for lab tests for confirmation

PHUKET: A garbage man being treated at a Phuket hospital is suspected of being another victim of bird flu.

A flap but no bird ’flu

PHUKET: The Chief of Phuket Provincial Health Office confirmed today that a hospital patient originally suspected of having bird ’flu had been allowed to go home after doctors found he was free of the disease.

Virat Hongsib-paed, 33, a garbage man employed in Kamala, was admitted to the Mission Hospital Phuket on Friday after feeling ill for several days.

Concern about bird ’flu arose because the patient, who had trouble breathing, told doctors that he had a waddle of ducks at home and that some of them had died in recent weeks.

Dr Wanchai Sattayawuthipong, Chief of Phuket Provincial Health Office, told the Gazette today that K Virat was allowed to leave the hospital this morning after treatment for what turned out to be conventional pneumonia.

“He felt better yesterday afternoon and I went to visit him last night at the hospital,” Dr Wanchai said.

The Phuket Provincial Livestock Office (PPLO) checked K. Virat’s ducks and found that they were suffering from an intestinal ailment.

“We can confirm that we have no avian ’flu on Phuket, in either people or birds,” Dr Wanchai added.

--Phuket Gazette 2004-02-23

[plachon]

Concern about bird ’flu arose because the patient, who had trouble breathing, told doctors that he had a waddle of ducks at home and that some of them had died in recent weeks.

Is "waddle" really the collective noun for ducks, as opposed to a flock? Can anyone think of a good collective noun for Thai politicians? How about "a fuddle" or "a deception" for starters?

[Spellbound]

collective noun for Thai politicians "Idiocy"