Thailand - Health officials on monitoring BF outbreak

[AlaskaDenise]

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="95%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD height=20>Health officials on monitoring bird flu outbreak</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD class=default12>BANGKOK, Nov 17 (TNA) -- Public Health Ministry officials throughout Thailand have been ordered to closely monitor a possible outbreak of the potentially deadly avian influenza bird flu virus as winter has begun in the country, according to senior health ministry officials.

Dr. Praj Boonyawongvirot, Permanent Secretary for Public Health, said that although no new cases of bird flu had been reported for almost 15 months, health officials throughout the country had been ordered to closely monitor possible new patients as the winter season has begun.

Some 800,000 health volunteers on duty at villages nationwide are asked to monitor dead poultry and the sick, Dr. Praj said, adding that the public should not eat animals which die from any sickness.

Disease Control Department director-general Dr. Thawat Suntrajarn said no new bird flu patients have been reported this year, through November 15. However, he nonetheless advised the public to avoid contact with poultry because the disease could be contracted through touch and other contact with sick birds, such as saliva. (TNA)-E111


.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

 

[Treyfish]

Re: Thailand - Health officials on monitoring BF outbreak

Possible bird flu outbreak feared

With the arrival of winter, the Public Health Ministry is worried about the possible outbreak of bird flu.

Some 800,000 health volunteers spread throughout the country have been assigned to monitor sick poultry and people.

Permanent Secretary Prat Boonyawongvirot said Saturday he had urged volunteers to inform health officials immediately if any poultry perished.

"Then they'll be checked for the virus," he said.

The ministry also stressed that children should stay away from chickens or birds that fell ill or died under inexplicable circumstances.

Nakhon Sawan has witnessed suspicious mass deaths of fighting cocks in Nong-pangpuay village of Kaoliew district. Their symptoms were similar to bird flu.

Headman Yongyuth Thongchoop said officials are trying to investigate the cause of the mass deaths of chickens in the area and will destroy the carcasses.

However, villagers protested against officials who tried to get samples of dead chickens to test in the lab, because they do not want their prized possessions to be culled, he said.

Phin Khanjiek, a villager, said he wants authorities to confirm the virus infection before sacrificing his fighting cock because he had bought it at a high price.

Dr Thawat Suntrajarn, director-general of the Disease Control Department, said the Bureau of Epidemiology was monitoring 2,036 patients suffering from general flu and pneumonia admitted to hospitals across country. As of Thursday, no bird-flu cases have been reported in those patients.

And the ministry has not received any news of bird-flu infections in humans for the past 14 months, he said.

According to the latest release from the World Health Organisation, the bird-flu virus has struck people in seven countries this year - Cambodia, China, Egypt, Indonesia, Laos, Nigeria and Vietnam.

WHO reported that 72 patients had come down with bird flu and 48 of them did not survive.

The highest rate of mortality and morbidity is in Indonesia, where 38 people have caught the virus and 33 have died. Egypt is second with 20 cases, of which five were fatal.

Prat said the ministry had equipped district and provincial hospitals with sterile rooms to treat bird-flu patients.:tiphat: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/11/17/national/national_30056505.php

 

[sharon sanders]

Re: Thailand - Health officials on monitoring BF outbreak

"...WHO reported that 72 patients had come down with bird flu and 48 of them did not survive.

The highest rate of mortality and morbidity is in Indonesia, where 38 people have caught the virus and 33 have died..."

As you pointed out Treyfish, these numbers are very off (low). Maybe the entire story is not valid?

Here are the WHO verified numbers:

http://www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/country/cases_table_2007_11_12/en/index.html

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Thailand - Health officials on monitoring BF outbreak

Maybe the entire story is not valid?

The story seems valid, happens all the time :

reporters write about today´s news and then try to put it in context.

Would not be the first time the context is based on old data.

Does not mean today´s news is not valid.

 

[Theresa42]

Re: Thailand - Health officials on monitoring BF outbreak

WHO reported that 72 patients had come down with bird flu and 48 of them did not survive.

I think I got it -- 72 & 48 are the figures (so far) for 2007:

http://www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/country/cases_table_2007_11_12/en/index.html

 

[Treyfish]

Re: Thailand - Health officials on monitoring BF outbreak

Thanks T42!So, can i get a consensus,fighting birds are dying in Thailand and locals are hiding chickens? :magnify:

 

[Theresa42]

Re: Thailand - Health officials on monitoring BF outbreak

Thanks T42!So, can i get a consensus,fighting birds are dying in Thailand and locals are hiding chickens? :magnify:

I say, yes -- that is new news. Or, rather, same old same old.... (Why are people still hiding their sick birds?)

 

[Treyfish]

Re: Thailand - Health officials on monitoring BF outbreak

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=760 border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top align=left><TD class=titleEcmn align=middle bgColor=#ff0000>Cock O' The North </TD><TD width=1 bgColor=#ffcc99></TD><TD vAlign=center align=middle bgColor=#ff0000>Vol. 16 No. 11 November 2007 </TD><TD background=../images/ecmn/ecmn_head_r.gif></TD></TR><TR vAlign=top align=left><TD width=6>

</TD><TD bgColor=#ff0000></TD><TD bgColor=#ff0000></TD><TD bgColor=#ff0000></TD><TD bgColor=#ff0000></TD><TD bgColor=#ff0000></TD><TD>

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=760 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top align=left width=580><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=580 border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top align=left><TD width=14>

</TD><TD width=552 background=../images/ecmn/ecmn_border_t.gif></TD><TD width=14>

</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top align=left><TD background=../images/ecmn/ecmn_border_l.gif></TD><TD align=middle><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=500 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>

"Thai suburbia is awash with cock stimulants
and depressants, although Sin swears by a homemade
medicine that consists of crushed geckos,
big hairy spiders and honey."​

In the far corner of what looks like an abandoned wrecking yard you see a crowd of men hunched around a small circular arena. Every so often they become more animated, waving their hands wildly, shouting numbers at bookies. Creeping up behind the crowd you see two cockerels poised to attack each other in the middle of the ring; one is losing blood, marked with a swarm of cuts on its almost bald neck; the other bird is looking in good shape. The fighting style of the cockerels is very similar to that of boxing: they hold, necks interlocking, then move apart, duck and dive while keeping their eyes intensely focused on one another; and then they release a flurry of pecks to the face and eyes followed by a ? literal ? flying kick and clawing. Every man is on the edge of his seat, dripping sweat, sucking on smokes; some are shouting the odds and others are jotting down bets in dishevelled books; the round is over when a gummy old fellow in the corner beats on a gong....<snip>..found this looking for BF news..:tiphat:
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
http://www.chiangmainews.com/ecmn/viewfa.php?id=1992

 

[Treyfish]

Re: Thailand - Health officials on monitoring BF outbreak

Checks step-up for bird flu return

[SIZE=-1]Cooler weather prompts warnings[/SIZE]

<!--img--><!--/img--><!--AD5 Google--><TABLE height=280 cellPadding=5 width=336 align=right><TBODY><TR><TD><SCRIPT type=text/javascript><!--google_ad_client = "pub-3070849023962414";google_ad_width = 336;google_ad_height = 280;google_ad_format = "336x280_as";google_ad_type = "text_image";google_ad_channel ="";google_color_border = "FFFFFF";google_color_bg = "FFFFFF";google_color_link = "940F04";google_color_url = "111111";google_color_text = "111111";//--></SCRIPT><SCRIPT src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js" type=text/javascript></SCRIPT>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!--END AD5 Google-->Public health authorities nationwide are being urged to step up surveillance for the re-emergence of avian flu as the weather gets cooler. Public health permanent secretary Prat Boonyawongvirot said health officials have been told to closely monitor patients being treated for influenza and lung infections as the cooler weather sets in.

All patients with lung infections will be asked whether they have had contact with poultry in the period leading up to their illness, and put under close medical surveillance, he said.

Even though the ministry has found no new cases of bird flu infections in humans over the past 14 months, the country must be on guard, said Mr Prat.

The ministry has also sought the cooperation of 800,000 health volunteers in villages to keep a close watch for any mass deaths of fowls and any illnesses in their villages.

He said that early detection of the virus infections remains the most effective preventive measure.

According to Mr Prat, the ministry is well prepared to deal with an outbreak of avian flu.

He said regional hospitals are equipped with isolation wards to treat suspected bird flu patients.

He said that all 30-bed community hospitals in the provinces, including Phetchabun, Kanchanaburi and Phichit, where outbreaks were reported in the past, are also equipped with the special wards.

Thawat Suntarajarn, the director-general of the Communicable Diseases Control Department, said that from January to mid-November a total of 2,036 patients have been treated for influenza and pneumonia.

However, he said none had been infected with the H5N1 strain of the virus.

Mr Thawat also urged people to protect themselves against the virus by washing regularly and keeping away from poultry.
He said that most of the bird flu infections are triggered by being in direct contact with infected fowls or their carcasses. :tiphat: http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/18Nov2007_news08.php