THAILAND ALERT FOR BIRD FLU IS EXPANDED
August 6, 2006 (Reuters)
Bangkok ? A 27-year-old Thai man has died of bird flu, the country?s second death from the disease this year, officials said Saturday, as they put eight more provinces, including the Bangkok area, on a watch list.
The man died on Thursday after the A(H5N1) virus killed chickens on his backyard farm in Uthai Thani Province, 135 miles north of Bangkok, and the third province to have an outbreak since the virus re-emerged in July after an eight-month lull.
?He buried them without any protection, and that?s why he caught bird flu,? Thawat Suntrajarn, chief of the Department of Disease Control, said of Thailand?s 16th victim since the disease swept through parts of Asia in late 2003.
Bird flu killed at least 134 people worldwide before this latest death, according to the World Health Organization.
Since the death of a Thai teenager in late July, Thailand has rushed to plug gaps in its bird flu defenses.
The area around the sprawling Thai capital was among eight provinces declared bird flu risk zones on Saturday, increasing the total to 29 of Thailand?s 76 provinces.
Agriculture Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan said local officials would go on a door-to-door campaign to educate villagers on how to handle sick or dead poultry.
A new call center will take reports of suspicious poultry deaths and answer questions about the disease.
The government has threatened fines of up to about $100 or two months in jail for failing to report sick or dead birds.
The outbreaks in Thailand and neighboring Laos, where bird flu was found on a farm last month, renewed fears that the disease is flaring up again in Asia.
In Vietnam, where no cases have been confirmed in poultry or humans this year, the authorities are taking no chances. Animal health workers slaughtered 53 wild storks at a theme park in Ho Chi Minh City on Saturday after random tests showed H5, part of the A(H5N1) virus, in two birds.
In Indonesia, tests confirmed six suspected human cases were not bird flu, an official said.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/06/world/asia/06thai.html?_r=1
August 6, 2006 (Reuters)
Bangkok ? A 27-year-old Thai man has died of bird flu, the country?s second death from the disease this year, officials said Saturday, as they put eight more provinces, including the Bangkok area, on a watch list.
The man died on Thursday after the A(H5N1) virus killed chickens on his backyard farm in Uthai Thani Province, 135 miles north of Bangkok, and the third province to have an outbreak since the virus re-emerged in July after an eight-month lull.
?He buried them without any protection, and that?s why he caught bird flu,? Thawat Suntrajarn, chief of the Department of Disease Control, said of Thailand?s 16th victim since the disease swept through parts of Asia in late 2003.
Bird flu killed at least 134 people worldwide before this latest death, according to the World Health Organization.
Since the death of a Thai teenager in late July, Thailand has rushed to plug gaps in its bird flu defenses.
The area around the sprawling Thai capital was among eight provinces declared bird flu risk zones on Saturday, increasing the total to 29 of Thailand?s 76 provinces.
Agriculture Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan said local officials would go on a door-to-door campaign to educate villagers on how to handle sick or dead poultry.
A new call center will take reports of suspicious poultry deaths and answer questions about the disease.
The government has threatened fines of up to about $100 or two months in jail for failing to report sick or dead birds.
The outbreaks in Thailand and neighboring Laos, where bird flu was found on a farm last month, renewed fears that the disease is flaring up again in Asia.
In Vietnam, where no cases have been confirmed in poultry or humans this year, the authorities are taking no chances. Animal health workers slaughtered 53 wild storks at a theme park in Ho Chi Minh City on Saturday after random tests showed H5, part of the A(H5N1) virus, in two birds.
In Indonesia, tests confirmed six suspected human cases were not bird flu, an official said.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/06/world/asia/06thai.html?_r=1