Thailand on high alert against bird flu

BANGKOK, January 15 (TNA) - The Thai Ministry of Public Health has ordered public health offices nationwide to keep a close watch on avian influenza of all strains, after there were reports on outbreaks of the new fatal H7N9 virus in China. Permanent Secretary for Public Health Dr. Narong Sahamethapat told journalists on Wednesday that his ministry is concerned over a possible bird flu outbreak in Thailand during the winter, especially the deadly H7N9 virus, which has hit China, and his ministry's Department of Disease Control and provincial public health offices nationwide have, thus, been asked to work together with provincial livestock offices in their respective areas to intensify their surveillance against all strains of bird flu both in poultry and people, giving special attention to areas where bird flu cases were previously reported. Dr. Narong acknowledged although Thailand has been free from avian flu since 2006, the country remains at risk of being hit by avian flu, as it could spread from other Asian countries through cross-border trade and movements of poultry and people. The senior official affirmed, however, that the H7N9 virus can be diagnosed at Thai laboratories, including those of his ministry's Department of Medical Sciences and of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives' Department of Livestock, and that there have been no bird flu cases in human, wild birds or domestic poultry in Thailand since 2006. According to latest figures released by the Geneva-based World Health Organization (WHO) on January 14, there have been 169 patients of the H7N9 virus since mid-2013, all of whom are in China, and 48 of them have died.(TNA)