H5N1 bird flu virus now spreads to Thailand
January 19, 2007 by Grace Ibay
Filed under Diseases & Conditions
The threat of H5N1 is sweeping even wider across Asia.
In the past month, bird flu has found its way into Indonesia, Vietnam and Japan . On Thursday, it reached Thailand with news of 4 family members in Thailand’s northern province of Phitsanulok were suspected of being infected with bird flu.
The family had eaten a dead duck recently and fell sick soon after. About 30 pigs from the same farm are also suspected of contracting bird flu, reported People’s Daily Online.
The Money Times reported as well that H5N1 bird flu was found in 100 dead ducks from the same 1 kilometer radius as the infected family’s farm.
Because Phitsanulok is a one of Thailand’s northern province where free-range and wild ducks abound, several government agencies were mobilized to curb the outbreak and prevent further infection.
A boy from the province of Phichit is in the hospital for suspected H5N1 infection, reported ETNA. He had eaten a sick chicken that then died suspiciously and later developed high fever. Doctors are still waiting for laboratory confirmation.
Sources:
Four bird flu suspects found in Northern Thailand; H5N1 virus spreads sfurther, now entraps Thailand; New bird flu suspect hospitalised in Phichit
Tags: Thailand, H5N1, bird flu, flu, outbreak, avian influenza
