Tests confirm Thai boy has bird flu, say officials
- From: "Chim" <ChimS1@xxxxxxx>
- Date: 21 Oct 2005 08:25:45 -0700
Tests confirm Thai boy has bird flu, say officials
By RUNGRAWEE C. PINYORAT, AP
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - Tests on an ailing 7-year-old Thai boy whose
father died of bird flu have confirmed that he also has the deadly
virus, Thai medical authorities said Friday.
On Thursday, Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra announced that a
villager in the western Thai province of Kanchanaburi had died of bird
flu. Initial tests had failed to confirm the disease, but samples
analyzed after the man's death on Sunday confirmed that he has the
virulent H5N1 strain of the virus.
The 48-year-old man was Thailand's 13th fatality from the disease and
the first in more than a year. Nineteen people in Thailand have been
confirmed as being infected by bird flu since the virus swept into the
country in late 2003.
Initial tests on his son, hospitalized with pneumonia-like symptoms,
also failed to confirm the presence of H5N1, but new tests found the
virus, said Prasit Watanapa, director of Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok,
where the boy is being treated.
Dr. Thawat Suntrajarn, director-general of Thailand's Department of
Communicable Disease Control, was optimistic about the boy's prospects.
"He will definitely survive as we have given him Oseltamivir," Thawat
told The Associated Press. Oseltamivir, marketed under the name Tamiflu
by its developer, the Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche, is considered
to be the most effective anti-viral drug to treat flu infections.
Many nations are stockpiling it as worries build over the possibility
of a flu pandemic. However, supplies are limited, and health officials
worldwide are considering how to increase production. Thailand this
week announced it would produce its own generic version of the drug by
October next year
The boy and his father were both reported to have handled a neighbor's
chickens in Phanom Thuan district of Kanchanaburi province that died of
an unknown illness. About two weeks after preparing the birds for
eating, the man was hospitalized with pneumonia-like symptoms, and his
son followed him shortly after.
Although the dead birds they handled were not tested for bird flu,
other chickens in the victims' village tested positive for the virus,
Dr. Thawat Suntrajarn, director-general of Thailand's Department of
Communicable Disease Control, announced Thursday.
The two new human cases have emerged as Thailand is experiencing new
flu outbreaks in birds in four of the country's 76 provinces.
Asia was hit by a surge of H5N1 bird flu beginning in late 2003,
leading to the deaths by disease or culling of more than 100 million
birds. More than 60 people have died of the disease in Thailand,
Indonesia, Cambodia and Vietnam, where most of the fatalities have
occurred.
Most human cases have been linked to direct physical contact with sick
birds. Health officials say it is not dangerous to eat properly cooked
chicken. They urge standard hygiene practices during preparation, such
as thoroughly washing hands and surfaces in contact with raw meat.
10/21/05 09:51 EDT
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. The information contained in the
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distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated
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