Bird flu threat returns with cool weather
No local cases yet but public health on alert
With the transition from the rainy season to winter fast approaching, authorities are taking precautions against the reemergence of human bird flu cases.
"Even though no one's been infected with the H5N1 virus during the past two years, we have to be on alert for an outbreak because the cool weather provides a good environment for the virus," Public Health Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung said yesterday.
As a preventive measure, he has ordered all provincial public health offices and 800,000 health volunteers to monitor for avian flu and flu infections in humans especially in the provinces where the virus appears frequently, such as the lower North.
The health ministry wants local public health offices to check closely anyone with bird flulike symptoms such as pneumonia and other respiratory diseases.
Chalerm said the bird flu virus had spread among poultry in these areas.
"If any suspicious symptoms are found, people will also be sent to the hospital immediately," he said.
Villagers should avoid cooking food using chickens or ducks that have died suspiciously, he said.
Any such poultry should be incinerated to minimise the risk of the H5N1 virus reaching other areas, he said.
Permanent secretary Prat Boonyawongvirot said the ministry is preparing medical treatment and medicine to provide to any patients catching bird flu.
The ministry has established a sterile room in all hospitals to provide emergency medical care, especially the antiviral drug Oseltamivir, to flu victims.
Dr Somchai Chakkrabhand, directorgeneral of the Disease Control Department, said his agency has been on the lookout for signs of the bird flu virus since January. So far, it has not found any bird flu cases in humans. The department has found only 873 patients who had come down with seasonal flu and were admitted in institutions across country.
However, according to World Health Organisation records since earlier this year, bird flu virus has become endemic in five countries - China, Egypt, Indonesia, Vietnam and Bangladesh. About 36 patients from these countries are suffering from the H5N1 strain, and 28 people have died.
Indonesia is the worst hit country with 20 patients showing bird flu symptoms and 17 deaths, followed by Egypt with seven patients and three deaths, then Vietnam with five patients and five deaths.
Source: The Nation - 03 November 2008
Bird Flu Threat Returns With Cool Weather
Started by Jai Dee, 2008-11-03 08:12
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