Puzzle over corpse found in Phuket condo unit

[Lite Beer]

Lab tests on deceased Nigerian will be known Sunday
By Digital Content

BANGKOK, Oct 25 -- Laboratory tests on a Nigerian national who died in a room in the southern resort province of Phuket earlier this week are expected to be known this Sunday, said Dr Narong Sahametapat, permanent secretary of the Public Health Ministry.

Dr Narong said the Nigerian national traveled from Lagos and arrived in Phuket on October 7.

On October 15, the tourist fainted while walking on a beach and was sent to a hospital for treatment.

Following diagnosis, doctors at the hospital found that the patient previously suffered from heart disease while the Ebola virus was not found during the examination.

The patient was treated and allowed to return to his apartment.

Police found the tourist died in the room on Thursday and asked the Public Health Ministry to help determine the cause of death.

Dr Narong said since the victim had travelled from Nigeria, and although the United Nations World Health Organisation announced on October 20 that the country was free from Ebola, doctors at the hospital decided to conduct a complete diagnosis whether this person contracted the deadly disease.

It is expected that the results would be known this Sunday, he said.

Meanwhile, Dr Sopon Mekthon director-general of the Disease Control Department, said the body of the Nigerian man is being kept at a hospital under the Public Health Ministry while some 25 persons who had contact with the victim while providing treatment would be monitored closely for three weeks as required by medical standards.

So far 2,415 persons suspected of possibly contracting Ebola and arrived in the kingdom have been closely monitored by medical personnel, said Dr Sopon. But so far no one was found to have contracted the disease. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2014-10-25

[RustBucket]

I mean it seriously when I say, this is Thailand, and if it were to be found that it was Ebola in fact, would the truth win out vs the fear of losing tourist dollars. and would there be a delay in making a truthful , informative, disclosure.

Sadly they will favour tourist revenue over the safety of travellers and the public.

This will be covered up as much as possible, but how they can do that while trying to control the spread of the virus is anybody's guess.

But just an initial attempt to cover an ebola infection up will be giving the green light for it to get out of control in Thailand within days. So I just hope any decision maker on this issue will use their brain and consider that their decision could cause massive infections in a tourist area that will then serve to spread the virus globally as tourists return to their home countries.

Edited October 25, 2014 by RustBucket

[Guest]

I'm now fully confused who is who, who died and where they are from on this story.

[RustBucket]

I'm now fully confused who is who, who died and where they are from on this story.

It is not unusual for a Nigerian to hold a British passport, we have an open door immigration policy after all.

[CobraSnakeNecktie]

I mean it seriously when I say, this is Thailand, and if it were to be found that it was Ebola in fact, would the truth win out vs the fear of losing tourist dollars. and would there be a delay in making a truthful , informative, disclosure.

Some people think the USA are hiding ebola cases, so I suppose any country could. But Thailand have been upfront in reporting this, so seems more likely that we'd get the truth. If they wanted to cover it up they would have just kept quiet. Seems pretty obvious he died of heart problems. Nigeria is currently free of Ebola, so how could he have caught it there?

except one of the symptoms of Ebola is heart failure

"Ebola is sneaky. It attacks immune cells, repressing the body’s ability to fight it off, and weakens the blood vessels, leading to internal and external bleeding. The causes of death vary from person to person. Some are simply overwhelmed by the virus and the immune response from their bodies. Others seem to die of heart attacks or respiratory distress. Hiccups are a death knell in the Ebola patient; a warning that the diaphragm is quitting."

http://www.macleans.ca/society/health/ebola-what-you-need-to-know-ii/

Edited October 25, 2014 by CobraSnakeNecktie

[siampolee]

Sad to say ''but if this death is Ebola related the authorities are not going to publicize the fact,''

There may be a somewhat heightened system of checks implemented in a show of '' look what we are doing scenario to ensure an Ebola free country,'' that will be the only indication of concern if as such the matter is as I said'' publicized.''

Hopefully it will be or was a straightforward case of heart failure due to coronary disease, however we need to realistic, we are not going to be told the truth , much the same situation no doubt that applies to other tourist money earning countries.

The truth is a principle that the authorities here and elsewhere too cannot nor will not afford.

[Alwyn]

Strange as Nigeria has been declared Ebola free for 47 days now. Also strange because as I understand it, it's quite plain to see when somebody has died from Ebola, bleeding from the eyes and every orifice at death, guts turning to slime etc. They would know if he'd died from Ebola with a glance. He'd already been diagnosed as no Ebola a few days earlier.

[LivinginKata]

Strange as Nigeria has been declared Ebola free for 47 days now. Also strange because as I understand it, it's quite plain to see when somebody has died from Ebola, bleeding from the eyes and every orifice at death, guts turning to slime etc. They would know if he'd died from Ebola with a glance. He'd already been diagnosed as no Ebola a few days earlier.

Exactly correct. Highly unlikely that this guy has Ebola. But that won't stop the rumor mill.

[CobraSnakeNecktie]

^^ no not really.

If they guy had preexisting heart disease and the internal rupturing process began and exploited his heart/valves/arteries then the other external rupturing signs would not have a chance to occur.

Also people are quick to forget the first Texas patient was examined and released.

[LivinginKata]

I'm now fully confused who is who, who died and where they are from on this story.

It is not unusual for a Nigerian to hold a British passport, we have an open door immigration policy after all.

The who is reported as - Martin John Roberts Clark who had recently returned from Nigeria. I don't see any reports that says he was Nigerian.

//Correction - post #34 stated "Dr Narong said the Nigerian national traveled from Lagos and arrived in Phuket on October 7."

A previous news report said "Police learned that the condo belonged Mr Clark he bought it several years ago but he had returned to Britain in March, - See more at: http://www.thephuketnews.com/puzzle-over-corpse-found-in-phuket-condo-unit-49306.php#sthash.LABlC1lO.dpuf

[FredNL]

They have EBOLA in Thailand. I have seen it in Pattaya.

[allan michaud]

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I mean it seriously when I say, this is Thailand, and if it were to be found that it was Ebola in fact, would the truth win out vs the fear of losing tourist dollars. and would there be a delay in making a truthful , informative, disclosure.

I would fully expect a long delay and lots of denials. They already did it with bird flu a decade back and that may well have contributed to the deaths from it back then.

[Lupatria]

ebola.jpg

They have EBOLA in Thailand. I have seen it in Pattaya.

and again- what would the society full of 'Thainess" say if a pub in the UK would promote 'Thai HIV crackers'?

[retell]

Just stop .

Countrys where ebola roams should not allow flights to departure without knowing 10000% sure that none of the crew or passengers have the virus ,, same for all that try to leave one of these "zones"

Harsh virus requires harsher measurements !

[steven100]

Was it suicide or was a Burmese migrant worker possibly involved .... ?

Edited October 25, 2014 by steven100

[CobraSnakeNecktie]

If they were willing to fudge the DNA results of the Koh Tao murder investigation

Then would they slant the Ebola test and come back inconclusive to save the high season?

There is a lot at stake

The fast decomposition claim is really troubling. Without insects and scavengers it seems unlikely a cardiac event would decompose beyond the point of easy identification in that time period.

Or an alternative scenario. Let's say there were scavengers like insects and then bats ate the insects.

Then ebola virus could have already found perfect carrier hosts to spread and mutate new local versions.

Edited October 25, 2014 by CobraSnakeNecktie

[Guest]

The fast decomposition claim is really troubling. Without insects and scavengers it seems unlikely a cardiac event would decompose beyond the point of easy identification in that time period.

Or an alternative scenario. Let's say there were scavengers like insects and then bats ate the insects.

Then ebola virus could have already found perfect carrier hosts to spread and mutate new local versions.

The heat in tropics does wonders to decomposition. Our bodies have 10 times more bacteria cells compared to our own cells. Even if the volume of bacteria is not as large as our own cells, when our bodies die and the cells with it, the bacteria has better chance to multiply.

Although there are several strains of Ebola (one living in bats in the Philippines), I think it was just a month or two ago mentioned that Ebola has jumped from other mammals to humans only once. Therefore new strains which can spear from one human to another is possibility, but quite unlikely event.

[NamKangMan]

The fast decomposition claim is really troubling. Without insects and scavengers it seems unlikely a cardiac event would decompose beyond the point of easy identification in that time period.

Or an alternative scenario. Let's say there were scavengers like insects and then bats ate the insects.

Then ebola virus could have already found perfect carrier hosts to spread and mutate new local versions.

The heat in tropics does wonders to decomposition. Our bodies have 10 times more bacteria cells compared to our own cells. Even if the volume of bacteria is not as large as our own cells, when our bodies die and the cells with it, the bacteria has better chance to multiply.

Although there are several strains of Ebola (one living in bats in the Philippines), I think it was just a month or two ago mentioned that Ebola has jumped from other mammals to humans only once. Therefore new strains which can spear from one human to another is possibility, but quite unlikely event.

CSN has a point though, oilinki.

What if a rat, or similar, had a nibble on a deceased from ebola?

It could jump species and then get spread to cats, dogs, food etc etc.

Could you imagine the contagion?

[CobraSnakeNecktie]

I see what your saying but I have seen dogs and cats that are dead in the road and they just don't seem to break down to unidentifiable that quickly.

Maybe they have different bacteria.

Even when maggots infest road kill it still takes a while to not be able to identify them.

Maybe they don't have the timeline correct.

Maybe it was longer.

[Guest]

CSN has a point though, oilinki.

What if a rat, or similar, had a nibble on a deceased from ebola?

It could jump species and then get spread to cats, dogs, food etc etc.

Could you imagine the contagion?

I have quite vivid imagination and try not to restrict it according to the social norms. Still after each mental exercise, or better yet thought game, there should be a probability filter applied. What is possible is not the same as what is likely to happen. Like I said, it's now believed Ebola mutation managed to jump only once from another mammal to human over all the years of it's existence.

Ebola is not Black death, to become one is very, very unlikely scenario. Sciences in 14th century were not so advanced compared to the present day. The whole infection transmission mechanism was new for the people at that time. Even if we travel far more than the people at that time, we are much more prepared to take actions in case of real pandemics.

[retell]

CSN has a point though, oilinki.

What if a rat, or similar, had a nibble on a deceased from ebola?

It could jump species and then get spread to cats, dogs, food etc etc.

Could you imagine the contagion?

I have quite vivid imagination and try not to restrict it according to the social norms. Still after each mental exercise, or better yet thought game, there should be a probability filter applied. What is possible is not the same as what is likely to happen. Like I said, it's now believed Ebola mutation managed to jump only once from another mammal to human over all the years of it's existence.

Ebola is not Black death, to become one is very, very unlikely scenario. Sciences in 14th century were not so advanced compared to the present day. The whole infection transmission mechanism was new for the people at that time. Even if we travel far more than the people at that time, we are much more prepared to take actions in case of real pandemics.

I hope you are right

[CobraSnakeNecktie]

^^ It's speculated fruit bats can carry ebola as a carrier without being affected. Where the virus mutates is a bit unclear. A mutation might take a while to reemerge if ever. Some viruses just die out or go dormant.

Let's not forget less than 100 years ago the Spanish Flu killed like 50 million.

I ran across this sobering quote

"A new paper in the journal Science has analyzed viral DNA from 78 Ebola patients in Sierra Leone and found 300 genetic changes in the virus that are specific to this outbreak. It also traced the strain’s divergence from the central African type of Ebola to around 2004. (Tragically, five of the paper’s authors have since died of the disease)."

http://www.macleans.ca/society/health/ebola-what-you-need-to-know-ii/

Also it does not have to be a biblical amount of death caused directly by the virus.

The outbreaks might cause a secondary effect like economic dislocation that in turns causes a conflict.

For example currently oil prices are falling. Russia is again really vulnerable to default if the price falls below certain levels/duration.

An outbreak could just tip the scales for a world power to act out for purposes of survival and create a chaos which could in turn allow the virus to grow unchecked.

Similiar to what happened in WW 1 and the Spanish Flu

Edited October 25, 2014 by CobraSnakeNecktie

[Guest]

I see what your saying but I have seen dogs and cats that are dead in the road and they just don't seem to break down to unidentifiable that quickly.

Maybe they have different bacteria.

Even when maggots infest road kill it still takes a while to not be able to identify them.

Maybe they don't have the timeline correct.

Maybe it was longer.

At the time the reporting (and I guess the sources who provide the information to the newspapers as well) is quite confused of even the basic details. I would not put too much trust to any of it yet.

Some months ago there was a news reports of a body which was dumped to Cherng Talay. After two weeks, there was very little soft tissue left.

Flies are everywhere and their life-cycle is very fast. As an example fruit fly eggs hatch in 12-15 hours after being laid to the decaying fruits. I suppose the other flies have similar speed when the eggs are turning into maggots.

[F4UCorsair]

But Thailand has cure for Ebola at least that's what was reported. Rip And Mr Clark I suggest you burn condo collect insurance and find new place the smell can never be taken out.

That's an old wives' tale Strangebrew.....the bit about the smell never being able to be 'taken out', not the bit about burning the condo, or maybe both?

Think about what you're saying. A dead human is no different from a dead rat, or a number of dead rats, for example, and there is no difficulty eradicating that smell.

I think yo may be right in that a Thai developed cure for Ebola was announced, but that's before testing, and that could conceivably take 5-10 years. Many new 'cures' for diseases/illnesses do.

Edited October 25, 2014 by F4UCorsair

[mjakob007]

I know the deceased. we have business relationships in Nigeria.

we live in a compound used by the oil majors and ebola screening to the compound is better than airports in most countries.

Besides he left Nigeria on 6/oct and the country has just been declared Ebola free by WHO as thier last case was some 42 days back.

[soalbundy]

Ebola, the new Aids, i wonder what the new modern illness will be next year.

[Stokakrishna]

every time foreigner dies in this country it is a puzzle

[biplanebluey]

Criticize the BiB, Thailand, whoever you choose, but with that quality of reporting Iin the Phuket News, I think the only thing of which we can be reasonably sure is that a body has been found.

Are you sure---- have you seen it ????

[NamKangMan]

Ebola, the new Aids, i wonder what the new modern illness will be next year.

"i wonder what the new modern illness will be next year." - I don't know, but for sure, the TAT will be using it as another excuse for why tourists numbers are down.

[NativeSon360]

It was absolutely, 100% guaranteed, definitely not a suicide!