UDON THANI, July 28 (TNA) - Thailand's Public Health Ministry Friday set up a special medical team to diagnose and prescribe treatment for new patients suspected of having caught the deadly bird flu virus, of which the number has been pushed to 44 nationwide.

Public Health Minister Pinij Jarusombat, visiting the northeastern Udon Thani Province on Friday, said the 44 bird flu suspects awaiting laboratory test results include 11 in Phichit and 10 in Sukhothai Province--both in the North--seven in the central Suphanburi Province and the rest are in other provinces in the North and Northeast.

The minister said he had signed the order to set up a special team of doctors to evaluate each patient and consider specialised medical treatments, including deciding which patient will be prescribed tamilflu --  in the circumstance that some patients may have a resistance to that drug.

Avian influenza control measures have been strengthened nationwide after new suspected bird flu cases were reported in many provinces, mostly in the lower North.

The latest bird flu victim was confirmed on Wednesday, the first human bird flu patient in the kingdom during the past one and a half years--since February 2005. (TNA)-E009