Thailand 7/24-7/27

[stormsailor1981]

Re: THAILAND [Phichit] - [Three] Several new suspected cases in Phichit

In addition, a report yesterday in The Nation said two men, aged 67 and 35, were hospitalized in Uttaradit Provincial Hospital with avian flu?like symptoms that developed after they ate spotted doves. The report said blood samples were taken for testing at a nearby laboratory


please correct me if i am wrong, but it is my understanding that blood test would only be positive for h5n1 if antibodies are present. usually takes a couple of weeks after infection for these to be present

[Theresa42]

Update from the Nakhon Sawan DPC - July 25, 2006

July 25: 27 suspected human bf cases "on investigation." Sixteen (16) new suspected cases reported on the 25th from Phichit province. Two (2) cases seem to have been excluded from the 24th to the 25th -- the one case from Uthani Thani that was "on investigation" yesterday and one case from Phichit.

The breakdown - "on investigation" as of July 25:
Nakhon Sawan = 0
Uthani Thani = 0
Kamphaeng Phet = 0
Phichit = 27

http://dpc8.ddc.moph.go.th/db8/disease/04_bird_day/index.php

http://dpc8.ddc.moph.go.th/db8/disease/04_bird_day/up/group4_H2bwjsx25072006.pdf

[Jeremy]

Re: THAILAND [Phichit] - [Three] Several new suspected cases in Phichit

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/h...d-flu_outbreak
Bangkok - Thailand's reluctance to admit that bird flu has broken out again after eight virus-free months was 'dissappointing,' European diplomats monitoring the situation said Tuesday.

Agriculture Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan confirmed on Monday a fresh outbreak of the H5N1 virus in the northern province of Pichit.

But local farmers had claimed two weeks ago that fighting cocks and ordinary chickens were dying with all the symptoms of bird flu.

Diplomats said the official and unofficial reports of bird flu-like deaths 'don't look good' and that more outbreaks were likely to reported over the coming weeks. Laos recently admitted that bird flu had appeared again after a period of almost two years.

European observers said it was damaging to Thailand's credibility to delay confirming outbreaks of bird flu, which also slowed down the official containment measures such as culling and isolating the affected areas.

Thailand recently sought European Community permission to resume its exports of fresh and quick-frozen poultry, after an eight-month period without any appearance of the H5N1 virus.

The EC had announced earlier this month that its ban on fresh poultry imports from China, Thailand and Malaysia would remain in place until the end of 2007.

Thai Senator Nirun Phitakwatchara accused the ministry of resorting to its 'old tricks' of trying to suppress bird-flu news in an effort to protect poultry exports.

'The Agriculture Ministry has once again put export income ahead of people's lives,' Nirun told the Bangkok Post.

The authorities were criticized for allegedly covering up the initial outbreaks of bird flu in Thailand in early 2004.

Officials with the Livestock Development Department's Disease Control Bureau said that all fowl near the infected farm in Pichit had been culled over the weekend and a ban placed on all movement fowl in the infected province.

The recurrence of bird flu was suspected a fortnight ago following the deaths of some 30 fighting cocks and free-range chickens.

The Public Health Ministry reported that an 11-year-old boy from Pichit had become Thailand's latest suspected bird-flu case. Blood samples from a total of eight suspected victims were currently being tested, it added.

[Theresa42]

Poultry deaths in another area of Phichit province / locals culling birds themselves

Sounds like there's massive poultry deaths in another place in Phichit province called Nern Má-Bpraang ("เนิน มะปราง") -- haven't figured out where it is. The reporter in this article interviews several villagers where the poultry deaths are happening and to me it sounds like they are saying they are forced to cull/collect the birds themselves because the Department of Livestock is just not there (too busy elsewhere?).

Don't have time to translate the whole thing just now -- there are photos if you follow the link.

Machine-translated from Thai:

District Roi Dtor Phichit - Phitsanulok chicken die in a great number / livestock destroy cannot
โดย ผู้จัดการออนไลน์ 25 กรกฎาคม 2549 15:46 น.

Phitsanulok - Be afraid of virus bird flu be prevalent all village place "[?] Marian Plum" ("เนิน มะปราง") [Nern Má-Bpraang] city two แควร อยต่อ Phichit dwelling chicken domestic die in a great number much village type only with get virus H5N1 until livestock send person enter destroy cannot.

Even if center research and development task veterinarian the North part lower district Wang Tong Phitsanulok will assure that carcass that die sick die in area the North part lower all Phitsanulok Phichit Sukhothai also not appear result task survey [?] but violence of poultry that die down advance village still happen include there is sick person suspected enter accept treatment body that hospital continuously until fear prevent that virus bird flu will spread repeatedly rise again.

Lately reporter can travel to also house recently 2 and flock 12 house small district Marian Plum (Ma Bpraang) province Phitsanulok find that previously there is institute livestock Phitsanulok enter destroy poultry but not cover/include every village cause there is chicken again a great number of power die down continuously which Mrs. [name] succeed to villages number 202 group 12 house/village few Kee Lek say that chicken that according to locals that there is to 60-70 bodies die go terminate already remain not even 10 bodies from period 1-2 days before also there is symptoms usually due to before die occur convulsion wriggle 2-3 the last time be motionless too much self then can dig hole bury too much around already.

Mrs. [name] say more preceding livestock come distribute money and enter destroy chicken also but very near due to that house/village self cannot enter destroy then remain chicken a great number of but to be at also happen die only suddenly due to not understand cause know only that following smell be hurt.

When villagers location house next be Mr. [name] say that chicken that village just now die period 2 day last disease cholera chicken certainly because Bai Naa chicken domestic be dark wriggle only not how much time also die some bodies dig go hunting/seek for food unexpectedly also die immediately self keep to share 50 bodies now remain only 10 bodies only.

Mr. [name] house number that 263 flock 2 say that chicken that to be at one by one die more than 20 bodies already must dig hole bury to be at daily which really if bury carcass chicken die only also may cannot accept compensation from state but must do because chicken die daily not can wait for authority livestock latest receive task communicate from authority that will enter destroy chicken again permit prepare flirt keep self then can bring chicken die on plastic bag keep for yes compensation kilogram each 45 baht....

http://www.manager.co.th/Local/ViewNews.aspx?NewsID=9490000095006&Keyword=%e4%a2%e9%cb%c7%d1%b4%b9%a1

[Sharpe]

Re: THAILAND [Phichit] - [Three] Several new suspected cases in Phichit

The reason you're finding "Noen Maprang" hard to find is because it's not in Phichit, but in the province to the north of Phitsanoluk. Specifically, it is the southeastern-most part of that province that's doing the culling. It is #9 in this Wikipedia map. Based on the article, they are also having similar problems in "Wang Thong" (#8).
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Im...hitsanulok.png

[Sharpe]

Re: THAILAND [Phichit] - [Three] Several new suspected cases in Phichit

They mention the Wang Thong district in this new article again.

http://etna.mcot.net/query.php?nid=23592

Suspicious death of chickens in northern province

PHISANULOK, July 25 (TNA) - An undisclosed number of poultry were found dead of unknown causes Monday in Wang Thong District of Phisanulok Province in Thailand's northern region.

The announcement was made shortly after the kingdom's Ministry of Public Health confirmed the presence of the avian influenza virus in dead domestic chickens in the adjacent province of Phichit.

The suspicious deaths of chickens were reported in five Phitsanulok sub-districts, as livestock officials reported having destroying 6,000 chickens between July12-24 to prevent a possible new outbreak of the disease.

So far there has been no reported human acquisition of bird flu from these poultry populations and lab tests have not indicated any of the dead chickens in Phisanulok as testing
positive for the virus.

Meanwhile, Natural Resources and Environment Minister Yongyuth Tiyapairat said Tuesday that his ministry oversees migratory birds, while the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives monitors domestic and commercial poultry and the Ministry of Public Health is in charge of controlling any outbreak of contagion.

The three agencies work well together, Mr. Yongyuth said.

He said that his ministry has inspected several areas frequented by migratory birds, especially at Bueng Boraphet, Thailand's largest lake in the northern province of Nakhon Sawan.

Bueng Boraphet lake and swamp is a rich nature reserve teemimg with wild animals and rare species of waterfowl and is well-known as a popular place for bird watching.

Until now, preventive measures against bird flu in Thailand have been adequate to tackle the problem, Mr. Yongyuth stated, and the international community has praised Thailand for its public health standard.

(TNA)--E004

[Jeremy]

Re: THAILAND [Phichit] - [Three] Several new suspected cases in Phichit

It is a wonder to me why the "International Community" praises countries for essentially not reporting what is going on.

This 'flase praise' only helps to reinforce the idea that countries should not report H5N1 outbreaks.

Take Thailand for example. The UN and WHO both praised Thailand and Vietnam for tacking their bird flu problems because they haven't reported any problems in the past 8-9 months.

Thailand has finally started to spill the beans on what is going on but Vietnam still isn't reporting any outbreaks.

So will the UN take away their praise of Thailand and say the world should just look to Vietnam as a model of how to handle H5N1?

In essence will they make themselves look like a fool again when describing where H5N1 is and where it is not?

[Sharpe]

Re: THAILAND [Phichit] - [Three] Several new suspected cases in Phichit

It is a wonder to me why the "International Community" praises countries for essentially not reporting what is going on.

This 'flase praise' only helps to reinforce the idea that countries should not report H5N1 outbreaks.

Take Thailand for example. The UN and WHO both praised Thailand and Vietnam for tacking their bird flu problems because they haven't reported any problems in the past 8-9 months.

Thailand has finally started to spill the beans on what is going on but Vietnam still isn't reporting any outbreaks.

So will the UN take away their praise of Thailand and say the world should just look to Vietnam as a model of how to handle H5N1?

In essence will they make themselves look like a fool again when describing where H5N1 is and where it is not?

The whole thing is a comedy, I've realized, Jeremy. H5N1, though, is not making any jokes.

[Sharpe]

Re: THAILAND [Phichit] - [Three] Several new suspected cases in Phichit

The bathtub analogy is so applicable. The whole world is transfixed upon a little girl who's sick at the only farm in Thailand that they've confirmed had bird flu. What a comedy!

http://nationmultimedia.com/2006/07/26/national/national_30009571.php

Girl quarantined in wake of new bird flu outbreak
By Suzanne Nam 26 July 2006 01:35
A young girl in the Central Plains region is currently being tested for bird flu after hundreds of sick birds were found to be infected with the deadly H5N1 avian flu virus, according to health officials.

?We are very concerned and we are taking great care to determine if she has it,? said Dr Paijit Warachit, director-general of the Health Ministry?s Medical Science Department.

Results will be available today and the child, identified only as an 11-year-old girl from Phichit, will remain in quarantine unless she is given a clean bill of health, according to the doctor.

Although health officials now routinely test patients with severe flu symptoms for H5N1, the little girl?s illness has raised concern because she was reported to have helped her mother bury sick chickens in the province where the latest outbreak of bird flu was reported yesterday ? the first since December, according to the Agriculture Ministry.

?We can confirm it ? 295 native chickens and fighting cocks [in Phichit] were found to have the H5N1 strain of bird flu,? said Dr Nirundorn Aungtragoolsuk, director of disease control at the ministry.

Agriculture Ministry workers spent yesterday spraying areas of the Central Plains region with disinfectant and slaughtering hundreds of birds in an effort to stem the spread of the disease.

Seven provinces in the Central Plains region were recently designated potential bird flu hot spots by the Agriculture Ministry because of increased incidents of sick poultry and continued wet weather. Like normal seasonal influenza, bird flu tends to appear more frequently during the rainy season, Dr Paijit said.

Thailand reported its first outbreak of bird flu in animals at the beginning of 2004. Since then, the Agriculture Ministry has culled millions of wild and farm birds all over the country and has also initiated community-based monitoring programs that have received international attention for their successes.


////////
BIRD FLU
Eye on poultry farmer, family

Blood test not carried out on family because they 'looked perfectly healthy' to probe team

Livestock and health officials yesterday turned the spotlight on the family whose chickens tested positive for the deadly H5N1 virus in the first confirmed infection of bird flu in Thailand this year.

Chumporn Khoomsrog, 54, and three members of his family were placed under close observation for any signs of avian flu, such as fever.

Starting yesterday, one day after the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives announced it had detected the H5N1 strain in samples taken from Chumporn's dead chicken, the observation programme will take 22 days.

The family have not yet had blood tests for bird flu because they looked perfectly healthy to the disease-investigating team who checked them yesterday at their house in Phichit's Bang Mun Nak district.

Dr Prachak Watanakul, chief of Phichit's Public Health Office, said he had ordered a team from Bang Mun Nak Hospital to observe the family's health every day until the end of the monitoring programme.

Phichit has six patients quarantined in hospital for fear that they might have contracted bird flu, said the doctor. One is an 11-year-old girl from Bang Mun Nak.

Prachak said the girl lived in a sub-district near to Chumporn's family and had reportedly touched a dead chicken before falling ill with bird flu-like symptoms.

Previously, he said, there had been 120 cases on a watch-list, but all were removed after negative tests for avian flu.

Phichit livestock authorities are culling poultry within a five-kilometre radius of Chumporn's house.

Veterinarian Thamanoon Thongsuk said Chumporn had raised 268 fighting cocks and they started to die on July 15.

A couple of days later, livestock authorities stepped in to help bury the carcasses and took some samples for testing.

Mounting reports of poultry deaths continue to come from many areas in the lower North and upper Central regions, including Phichit. Chiang Mai livestock authorities yesterday issued a statement to suspend cock-fighting until further notice.

The Public Health Ministry said no human case of bird flu had been detected in about 20 recent cases sent for testing. The ministry has tested about 1,600 samples taken from suspected patients in 67 provinces this year.

Nirundorn Aungtrakultook, director of the Department of Livestock Development's (DLD) bureau of disease control and veterinary services, said yesterday a test confirmed that the virus found in Pichit was the H5N1 strain.

The DLD has sent a sample to the World Organisation for Animal Health's laboratory in England to test whether the virus had mutated. As part of an international agreement, specimens must be sent to the laboratory each time there is a new outbreak.

[Siamese]

Re: THAILAND [Phichit] - [Three] Several new suspected cases in Phichit

AVIAN FLU SUSPECTED HUMAN CASE

Top health official: High chance Phichit teen died of H5N1
POST REPORTERS
<!--img--><!--/img-->A 17-year-old youth from the northern province of Phichit who died from acute lung infection and flu-like symptoms on Monday had probably been infected with the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus, a senior Public Health official revealed yesterday. ''There is a high possibility that this man died from avian influenza,'' the official said, adding that doctors had failed to detect the virus because the tissue samples from the patient had deteriorated.

The official said the youth, from Thap Khlo district, was admitted to the hospital last Tuesday after developing a high fever. His condition deteriorated rapidly.

The teenager had buried about 20 fowls that had died of unknown causes in his village shortly before he fell ill.

Post-mortem results on the cause of his death would be released today, said the official.

The announcement came a day after the Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry on Monday confirmed a fresh outbreak of the H5N1 bird flu strain in Phichit's Bang Mun Nak district _ the first in the country in eight months. The virus was found in a fighting cock carcass.

The district has been declared a bird flu-infected area, which allows the authorities to employ full-scale disease control measures, including eradication, quarantine, controls on fowl movements and disinfection of affected premises.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) yesterday called on Thailand to conduct an ''intense investigation'' into the re-emergence of bird flu and trace the possible spread of the virus from the northern province of Phichit.

The international body also emphasised the importance of ''early detection'' and ''rapid and transparent international reporting'' to curb the spread of the virus.

The recurrence of bird flu in Phichit reaffirmed the FAO's concern about the potential for the disease to resurface in high-risk areas, said Laurence Gleeson, regional manager of the FAO's emergency centre for transboundary animal diseases yesterday.

Further investigations should be carried out to determine the source of the infection, he said.

''The FAO will continue to closely monitor Thailand's bird flu prevention and control programmes and offer assistance to the Livestock Development Department (LDD) in its control efforts,'' he said.



Meanwhile, the Department of Medical Sciences yesterday announced that five suspected human bird flu cases from Phichit, Uttaradit, Phitsanulok, and Phetchabun, had tested negative for H5N1.
Department chief Paijit Warachit said the five patients, including a 12-year-old girl from Phichit, were only infected with the human influenza virus.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/26Jul2006_news04.php<!--/Content-->

[Sharpe]

Re: THAILAND [Phichit] - [Three] Several new suspected cases in Phichit

Poor guy, he was probably not even on the list of suspected cases. The wave of confirmations may just be beginning. Step by step. First, confirmation of chickens in one province, then of people in that province, then of other provinces, then of Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, southern China, etc.

[Siamese]

Re: THAILAND [Phichit] - [Three] Several new suspected cases in Phichit

I'm not so sure how we're going to get out of this one.

[HenryN]

Re: THAILAND [Phichit] - [Three] Several new suspected cases in Phichit

Commentary at

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/07250602/H5N1_Pichit_Fatality.html

[Theresa42]

Re: THAILAND [Phichit] - [Three] Several new suspected cases in Phichit

The reason you're finding "Noen Maprang" hard to find is because it's not in Phichit, but in the province to the north of Phitsanoluk. Specifically, it is the southeastern-most part of that province that's doing the culling. It is #9 in this Wikipedia map. Based on the article, they are also having similar problems in "Wang Thong" (#8).
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Im...hitsanulok.png

Thanks

[Sharpe]

Re: THAILAND [Phichit] - [Three] Several new suspected cases in Phichit

Thanks]

No problem, Buddy!