Thailand steps up bird flu surveillance; two suspected cases in northern province

Thailand has emerged as having the strongest surveillance systems against bird flu in Southeast Asia, and the nation is keeping an even tighter watch this monsoon season when flooding and rain become ideal for the virus to grow. “This situation is good for the virus to grow. We have not found the virus, but we want people to be alert,” said Yukol Limlaemthong, head of the Livestock Department, quoted by Rueters.

Seven provinces are on the watch list because outbreaks have been detected there in the past, where the H5N1 virus has killed 14 Thais since it emerged in 2003.

However, authorities now fear that public vigilance against the disease is waning when they found that some Thai villages had handled and ate chickens that mysteriously died.

In fact, the Thai News Agency just reported that two hospitalized sisters from the northern province of Phichit are suspected to be infected with bird flu as many poultry in their village have died of unknown causes before the children got sick. Blood samples taken from the girls have been sent for testing and results will be known as early as Thursday.

In a measure to prevent the disease from spreading, about one hundred domestic chicken which died of unknown causes have been buried and the site was disinfected.

I’ll be watching the progress of this news, and hoping that Thai officials get on top of the situation before more humans get infected.

(Image above shows a map of bird flu spread in Thailand. Source: BBC)