Laotian girl in Nong Khai tested positive to bird-flu virus

Laotian girl in Nong Khai tested positive to bird-flu virus

NONG KHAI - Test results found the 16-year-old Laotian girl - treated as a critical patient at Nong Khai Hospital - had H5N1 virus.

Nongkhai public health chief Dr Itthipol Sungkhaeng revealed Tuesday that the patient - transferred in earlier this month to a Thai hospital as according the Thai-Lao MOU on bird-flu cooperations - was diagnosed of bird-flu and her condition was critical requiring close medical attention.

With a bird-flu patient's chance to survive of 10-20 per cent, the doctors vowed to treat her the best they could, he said.

Itthipol also had instructed Nong Khaiborder hospitals that, if Laotian patients were submitted with fever, cough, short of breath and with history of touching birds, they must take special care of them to prevent the disease to spread to others and to report them to the provincial public health office.

The Nation

Laos fears a second human bird flu death
05 Mar 2007 11:43:20 GMT
Source: Reuters

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BANGKOK, March 5 (Reuters) - Laos believes it has had its second human death from the H5N1 bird flu virus, a 42-year-old woman who fell sick in a province near Vientiane, a senior official said on Monday.

"There's a 90 percent chance that her death was caused by H5NI, but we can't confirm that until we have a result from a WHO lab," senior Public Health Department Bounlay Phommasack said by telephone.

The laboratory tests by the World Health Organisation would take about seven days, Bounlay said.

The woman, who fell ill on Feb. 26, was believed to have touched infected chickens in her village 60 km (37 miles) from Vientiane, Bounlay had said.

It would be the second human bird flu death in landlocked Laos. The first was a 15-year-old girl who lived in the suburb of Vientiane where the virus was found in poultry in January.

The virus has infected at least 275 people in 12 countries since 2003 and killed at least 167 of them in 10 countries, the WHO says.

Public health experts fear it could mutate into a form that people catch easily from one another, possibly sparking a pandemic.

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Lao bird flu victim cremated in Thailand
NONG KHAI, March 8 (TNA) -- The remains of a 15-year-old Lao girl who died here Wednesday were cremated at a Buddhist temple in Nong Khai municipality Thursday.

The Vientiane native was pronounced dead due to avian influenza -- bird flu -- after being hospitalised in Nong Khai province for 19 days.

Nong Khai public health chief Dr. Itthipol Sungkhaeng said that the teenage girl succumbed to the deadly airborne disease although a team of Thai doctors had put every possible effort to save her life.

She was the second Lao patient to die of bird flu. The first victim was found in Ponhong, a town about 70 kilometres from the Lao capital of Vientiane.

The cremation came after Thai public health officials held talks with Lao counterparts. Moreover, the victim's family agreed that her body would be cremated in Nong Khai so as to prevent further spread of the deadly disease.

Dr. Itthipol said that preventive measures along Thai-Lao border need strengthening. All hospitals and health centres along the border have been instructed to closely watch their patients. Extra precautions are necessary, he said, especially during the current dry season when the water level in
Mekong River is shallower and hence more convenient for informal boat crossings.

So far, there has been no report of additional patients with suspected bird flu symptoms, he said.

Attending the funerals Thursday afternoon were Thai and Lao public health officials and family members of the young woman. (TNA)

Bird flu strikes again in northern Thailand
Mon Mar 19, 2007 1:30 PM IST




BANGKOK (Reuters) - The H5N1 bird flu virus has reappeared in a northeastern Thai province, the country's fourth outbreak this year, an Agriculture Ministry official said on Monday.

The latest outbreak was confirmed at a government training centre near the border with Laos, which has also reported outbreaks recently, Department of Livestock director Nirundorn Aungtragoolsuk told Reuters.

"The lab test result yesterday has confirmed that the virus found in the centre was the deadly H5N1 and we have already got rid of all of them," he said, referring to fowl at the centre.

After a six-month lull, the virus reappeared in north and northeastern Thailand in January and in the central area last month.

There have been no new reports of human infections in the country, where the virus has killed 17 people since it re-emerged in Asia in 2003.

The World Health Organisation says the virus has infected at least 277 people in 12 countries since 2003 and killed at least 168 of them.

There are fears that millions could die if the virus were to mutate into a form that passed easily from person to person.