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Published on September 29, 2007

He also urged the public to stay away from ill or suspiciously dead chickens. Following the suspicious death of 70 fowl in tambon Wang Sam Rong in Phichit's Taphan Hin district and tambon Noen Sawang in Pho Prathap Chang district, the Surveillance and Rapid Response Team (SRRT) put 40 people in the areas on a 21-day watch, which ended yesterday, Mongkol said.

None of the observed people developed fever or other symptoms, he added.

Mongkol said he had instructed other provinces, especially 25 in lower-Northern and Central Thailand where poultry farms are abundant, to keep a close eye on developments because the virus might grow and cause an outbreak again in the cool weather.

He added that although no bird-flu cases in humans have been reported since last August, health officials and volunteers should still keep a close eye on locals and poultry, and submit reports to the province on a daily basis.

Mongkol has also urged the public to observe preventive measures such as not concealing the suspicious deaths of poultry, not eating ill or suspiciously dead chicken, not touching dead birds with bare hands, washing their hands on a regular basis and visiting the doctor immediately if any symptoms are detected.

Permanent Secretary for Public Health Prat Boonyawongwirote said that in a second round of checks, 1,909 pneumonia and flu patients in 67 provinces were tested to see signs of bird flu. So far, lab results have not detected any H5N1 infections, he said.

Prat also said the World Health Organisation (WHO) this year had reported 65 bird-flu cases across the globe, of which 42 have died in Cambodia, China, Egypt, Indonesia, Laos, Nigeria and Vietnam. From 2003 until present, a total of 328 people are known to have fallen ill from the disease, and 200 of them in 12 countries have died.

Duangkamon Sajirawattanakul

The Nation