February 3, 2004

 

 

Experts Meet In International Talks To Discuss Bird Flu

 

Experts from the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) will gather today for an emergency meeting held in Rome to devise an international strategy aimed at controlling the spread of bird flu in Asia.

 

They will come up with coordinated and effective plans to address the animal and public health concerns of each country hit by the epidemic that requests assistance.

The FAO said yesterday that bird flu remained a serious issue in China, Thailand and Vietnam.

"The eruption of new cases of infection in Thailand, China and Vietnam shows that the disease is far from being under control," the FAO said in a statement.

Countries hit by the outbreak were urged to continue their eradication campaigns and apply internationally recommended emergency measures such as mass cullings, quarantine and disease monitoring.

They were also asked to openly share data and information in view of the regional dimension of the crisis.

In Thailand, a six-year-old boy from Kanchanaburi died yesterday of respiratory failure, bringing the death toll of both confirmed and suspected cases of bird flu to 12 so far.

The latest victim, Nithikorn Chidnok or Nong Kong, was a cousin of six-year-old Kaptan Boonmanuj, one of the confirmed cases who died earlier.

Nong Kong was transferred from Nakhon Pathom Hospital to the Children's Hospital on Jan 31. His condition deteriorated so rapidly that doctors could not save him.

The Public Health Ministry yesterday announced one more case of bird flu, bringing the total number to four.

The latest confirmed case was a 58-year-old woman from Song Phi Nong district in Suphan Buri, who contracted the flu directly from chickens raised on her farm. She died a few weeks ago.

The other three confirmed cases are two six-year-old boys in Sukhothai and Kanchanaburi, both already dead, and a seven-year-old twin boy from Suphan Buri who is being treated at the Children's Hospital.

Dr Suphan Srithamma, deputy director-general of the Medical Science Department, said the agency's lab tests required a standard of 14 days to confirm whether the suspected cases were avian influenza or not. There were also a few dead patients whose test results could not be confirmed because specimens collected from them were insufficient.

Meanwhile, the quarantine has been lifted in more areas, falling to 35 zones in 16 provinces from 159 in 36 provinces, while 25 million chickens have been confirmed slaughtered.

Tha Yang and Ban Laem districts of Petchaburi have been declared freshly infected zones. The confirmed death toll from bird flu stands at three out of four confirmed cases, with 19 suspected cases, nine of whom have died.

Government spokesman Jakrapob Penkair yesterday insisted it was safe to eat vegetables from farms which used dried chicken manure as fertiliser.

He said the Agriculture Ministry's reports showed that Japan had reacted positively to Thailand's bird flu control measures.

Livestock Department director-general Yukol Limlaemthong said bringing the bird flu epidemic under control was becoming easier and quicker as the number of quarantine zones continued to fall.

However, it would be another 90 days of double checking before the department could allow chicken raising in all 159 areas to resume.