2nd MERS case suspected in Thailand

[bboy]

Looks like we're set for more farangs snuffing it, falling from balconies with post mortems identifying severe respiratory problems. Verdict: suicide, obviously.

[Rogergreybeard]

Scary disease,instead of raving about politicians, worry about the disease, there are a lot of older farangs with illnesses that should be very carefull who they come in contact with and take care.

[Guest]

Looks like we're set for more farangs snuffing it, falling from balconies with post mortems identifying severe respiratory problems. Verdict: suicide, obviously.

You sort of lost me there ...

On what planet does this make sense?

Just kidding .. Planet Thai Visa ... "obviously"

[The Deerhunter]

Next statement from TAT will be ''This will have no effect on tourist numbers''

More likely they will up thier estimated arrivals...

Is it time to raise all the hotel tariffs and bar prices yet???

[bimmerbob]

>>Asked if he was confident in keeping the situation under control, he shot back at reporters. "Can I give order to the disease? It’s up to all Thais who have to be on alert and contact the authorities if something suspicious happens. I can’t give order to the disease."<< Quote

Another balanced and well thought through reply from the Leader..................

Pressure getting to him??

He is just not familiar with 'political language', that's all.

At least he airs his views as he sees fit........nothing wrong with that, besides, the question was a bit stupid anyway.

[Cpkt8]

Lol...I like uncle's way of expressing himself to the media. Straightforward and no sweet talk[emoji5]️

Edited June 20, 2015 by Cpkt8

[timendres]

yes he can make order to spread the SARS infection by the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) If we say all

diseases come from a labotory and then they also have MERS to make testing.

Same as HIV - AIDS.

If we say all people all over the wold before HIV and AIDS break out was healthy then the infection most come from the lab. And something go very wrong.

A sick diktator ( no name ) can spreed all kind of diseases just for fun or because he/she is sick....

Birdflu come because we kip the chicken in a very small place. So they go stresed and the disease spread to the eggs. as we eat. therfore birdflu.

All kind of viruses is in the lab so they can authenticate the virus. Those they not have is a new one and then they most try to find a cure for that.

Just to nip the conspiracy in the bud...

Several investigations have shown that HIV existed long before we had any understanding of genetics that would allow the virus to be engineered.

For instance: http://edition.cnn.com/HEALTH/9802/03/earliest.aids/

It does not take an evil human to invent these things (although, evil humans surely will try). Nature is perfectly capable of putting down our species any time she wishes. Modern society has created the perfect petri dish for her to work with. I believe it is highly likely that a virus will be our undoing long before nuclear war, terrorists, or resource depletion. Although, stupidity is a strong contender

So, please enjoy the party while it lasts...

[timendres]

Tip of the iceberg

If there are 2 known cases there are 200 unknown.

Just exactly the kind of homespun, comic book scaremongering drama queens are famous for. What utter rubbish. Even if it's Bugs Bunny, try and give us a source... Go ahead, TRY..,

While those numbers were just pulled from his hat, the point is valid. When a case is identified, the authorities attempt to determine who came in contact with that person so they can attempt to control the virus. But that is a very difficult task. Can they really identify each and every person? Not likely. Combined with the incubation periods (2 to 14 days for MERS, during which the person is not contagious), it becomes very difficult.

An infected person gets off a plane after sneezing onto their passport. An immigration official handles the passport, then rubs their eyes which are sore from looking at passports for 8 hours. Is it likely that the officials would have identified and tested that immigration official? Maybe. Maybe not. If not, it will be up to two weeks before the immigration official will show any symptoms, all the while coming into contact with thousands of people at their job until the symptoms are clearly obvious. Do we think that the health department is routinely testing immigration officials for just this scenario? Doubt it.

So, it is very likely that for every known case, there are unknown cases of an unknown quantity. Which is why the situation must be handled quite seriously until they have a clear idea of how far it has spread and how likely it is to be contained.

[claffey]

Considering the health system in Thailand I suspect the numbers will climb rapidly should these two cases prove to have infected others before detection.

Most Thais cannot afford hospital treatment for severe illnesses let alone go for even for minor ailments, so a little high body temperature, breathing difficulty etc will be "shrugged off" as normal daily issues such as a common cold or flu, with the rainy season arriving many Thais suffer colds due to the change in temps & humidity so this will also mask possible M.E.R.S syndrome...

whilst they are at large in the public domain they will spread the disease to family members & others that they come into contact with!!

It's all well and good having 69 hospitals nationwide on alert... but you need the patients on the "inside" to do any good !!

Tip of the ice-berg indeed

This is a ridiculous statement! Most Thai people can afford hospital care. Government hospitals are cheap and most people will have some form of social insurance. This is another example of Western imperialistic attitudes. You probably think that Thailand is a 'world country' too right?? I can also assume that you come from Utopia where medical care is wonderful. I must ask the question so..Why do you live here??? That's if you do. Perhaps you come here on holidays from Utopia so that the 'third world' conditions here can make you feel better about yourself....

[bendare]

where can i find info on this, there is a suspected case with a 4 year old girl in Chaiyaphum hospital,it must be terrible for her . were having our second child in chaiyaphum hospital on sunday

[hawker9000]

Tip of the iceberg

If there are 2 known cases there are 200 unknown.

Just exactly the kind of homespun, comic book scaremongering drama queens are famous for. What utter rubbish. Even if it's Bugs Bunny, try and give us a source... Go ahead, TRY..,

While those numbers were just pulled from his hat, the point is valid. When a case is identified, the authorities attempt to determine who came in contact with that person so they can attempt to control the virus. But that is a very difficult task. Can they really identify each and every person? Not likely. Combined with the incubation periods (2 to 14 days for MERS, during which the person is not contagious), it becomes very difficult.

An infected person gets off a plane after sneezing onto their passport. An immigration official handles the passport, then rubs their eyes which are sore from looking at passports for 8 hours. Is it likely that the officials would have identified and tested that immigration official? Maybe. Maybe not. If not, it will be up to two weeks before the immigration official will show any symptoms, all the while coming into contact with thousands of people at their job until the symptoms are clearly obvious. Do we think that the health department is routinely testing immigration officials for just this scenario? Doubt it.

So, it is very likely that for every known case, there are unknown cases of an unknown quantity. Which is why the situation must be handled quite seriously until they have a clear idea of how far it has spread and how likely it is to be contained.

"While those numbers were just pulled from his hat"

Exactly.

"it is very likely that for every known case, there are unknown cases of an unknown quantity"

All, and what he needed to say. But since that would've been obvious to all to begin with, he needed to transform plain fact into BS to feed his sense of self-importance. Kind of pathetic that some feel the need to do this. Topics like this really don't need to be hijacked away from the factual by drama queens.