January 28, 2004

 

 

One-Third of Thailand Down With Bird Flu

 

The spread of bird flu is getting out of hand, with 25 provinces, more than one-third of the country, affected, Agriculture Minister Somsak Thepsutin said on Wednesday.

 

"They have found the virus in 11 more provinces in addition to Bangkok, bringing the total number of affected provinces to 25," Mr Somsak told reporters.

 

Thailand has a total of 76 provinces, meaning that a third of them have been hit by the disease which has now spread to its main agricultural region in the north-east.

 

Mr Somsak said that in Bangkok, a city of 10 million people, the eastern districts of Bungkhum and Chatuchak had been affected, while the newly-hit provinces are to the north and east of those already reeling from the disease.

 

"The ministry will notify the governors of each province directly today," he said as Bangkok Metropolitan Authority officials met to discuss emergency measures to combat the virus.

 

The confirmed swift spread of the H5N1 avian influenza strain here comes as Thailand prepares to host international talks aimed at establishing a united front against the disease which has raced across nine other Asian nations.

 

Ministers and officials from crisis-hit countries and other regional nations are due to attend as well as officials from the US, European Union, the World Health Organisation and the Food and Agriculture Organisation.

 

Meanwhile, Vietnam said on Wednesday that two sisters who died last week from severe respiratory illnesses had tested positive for bird flu, taking the death toll in the country from the disease to eight.

 

Mr Hoang Thuy Long, director of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemology, said the pair died on Thursday.

 

"The two sisters from Thai Binh province have become the latest victims of bird flu. Tests showed on Wednesday afternoon that Vietnam now has 10 H5N1 cases, eight of whom have died," he said.

 

The brother of the two sisters is among a number of people suspected but not confirmed to have been killed by the virus.

 

The three siblings fell ill after killing and preparing a sick chicken at the brother"s wedding. He died on Jan 14. His bride was also hospitalised but made a full recovery.

 

"We cannot identify if their brother was killed by the virus because it was thought that he had died from pneumonia and so we didn't take a sample. His body was then cremated," Mr Hoang said.

 

United Nations agencies have called for an all-out global effort to combat bird flu and warned the virus could kill millions if it combines with another human influenza virus that is moving towards the region.