Govt Declares Bangkok, 29 Provinces As Disaster Zone

[veteran]

TIT:

[Alreadyinuse]

Why hasn't Thailand done what Viet Nam did: vaccinate all the chickens in the country? Although Viet Nam has had a high number of deaths (42) it has not had any outbreak this year. Thailand's policy of not preventing, but eradicating after an outbreak is demonstrably less effective. Did TH adopt this policy to save money for Charoen Pokpand and other large poultry producers?

Actually both responses were taken into action. Mass eradication of poultryfarms in certain regions and vaccination.

[ratcatcher]

Brilliant...just wait until CNN gets hold of this one.

"Bangkok declared bird flu disaster area!"

Tourists? What tourists?

Bubba: People's lives are worth more than some tourist income.

I don't think that could be any more obvious.

This map courtesy BBC.

Southeast Asia looks promising Gladys. How about Indonesia and Thailand for a month?

Edited August 9, 2006 by ratcatcher

[lukamar]

What they fear above all else is microbes with small pox and influenza at the top of the list.

H5N1 may indeed never make the jump to humans but I am afraid it will never go away either. It may be something that requires a world monitoring and response forever. This is not a battle where we can afford getting lax or giving up.

People may fear microbes but there is no indication that H5N1 is contagious at this time to the world population. It's been around in the normal bird population for a long time along with other H5Nx viruses.

BTW - The WHO certified the eradication of smallpox in 1979 and the only threat from it now is in germ warfare with the only two countries holding the virus in labs are the USA and Russia. If people have to fear a smallpox outbreak they have to fear the actions of those two countries who also hold their fingers over the worlds major nuclear arsenals.

The risk to the general population at the moment of contacting H5N1 is about the same as being hit with an avalanche in Bangkok. Should the CDC, WHO and others keep an eye on H5N1 and other viruses. of course they should, but is the jump imminent at present? No it is not.

[sriracha john]

... I guess we should replace any of the recent bird flu news article titles with:

Avalanche In Bangkok Kills 16, Dozens More Injured

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Anyway, back to the realities of Thailand's situation:

Lack of awareness on flu proving fatal: virologist

The two latest victims of the avian-flu virus died due to insufficient surveillance and the lack of a proper warning system, leading virologist Prasert Thongcharoen said yesterday.

"No one warned them the virus was even out there," he said, referring to residents of Phichit and Uthai Thani, the provinces where the first and second bird fatalities this year were reported, respectively.

When chickens in these areas died, the victims simply used the birds for cooking or handled the carcasses without proper protection - unaware of the existence of the virus, he said.

On July 24, the Agriculture Ministry reluctantly conceded there might be an epidemic of avian flu in Phichit when samples of dead poultry tested positive for the subtype H5.

Officials said they could not be sure if it was the H5N1 strain of the virus, which can be deadly to humans.

On July 27, the Public Health Ministry announced that a 17-year-old man in Phichit had died of bird flu, three days after the laboratory results showed he had the virus.

The second case, in Uthai Thani, was confirmed by the Public Health Ministry on the weekend, while the Agriculture Ministry continued to insist it had not found any bird-flu virus in the province.

To curb such preventable losses, Prasert said, "We need a surveillance system that is fast and accurate - plus a rapid response capability. Otherwise, we will have far more cases to deal with."

Prasert said the absence of epidemic warnings makes it harder for doctors to treat patients with bird flu, given that it is really a new disease in terms of medical treatment.

"Is anyone truly experienced in treating bird-flu patients? No. We're trying to catch up with this virus," he said.

Prasert also supported the Public Health Ministry's observations that illegally used vaccines in poultry could mask the virus during testing. Such vaccines helped infected poultry survive and continue to spread the virus, while appearing healthy.

As a result, the risk of humans succumbing to the virus from infected poultry was even greater, he said.

Poultry vaccines against avian flu might be of benefit in some countries where bio-safety could be well monitored, but not in Thailand where common carriers of the virus such as ducks still are largely free-range, said Prasert.

The Nation

[BlackJack]

picture this

Silom Rd

5PM everyday

millions of birds are in these trees making a hel_l of a racket and crapping on everything and everyone below

the crap is one good way to spread this virus

viri is very small but very smart - its prime objective is to survive and multiply

no one is doing anything about this and so

its just a matter of time