BBC 1/27/04: Another six-year-old boy in Thailand dies from bird flu, as neighbouring Laos confirms the virus in its poultry

[Guest guest]

>

>BBC DAILY E-MAIL: UK EDITION

>Tuesday, 27 January, 2004, 09:00 GMT 01:00 US/Pacific

>

> * Second Thai boy dies of bird flu *

>Another six-year-old boy in Thailand dies from

>bird flu, as neighbouring Laos confirms the

>virus in its poultry.

>Full story:

>http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3432545.stm

>

 

 

 

Second Thai boy dies of bird flu

A six-year-old boy has become Thailand's second

victim of the bird flu outbreak, say hospital

sources.

 

The young boy died at a hospital in central

Phitsanulok province, 370 kilometres (230 miles)

north of Bangkok, an official told AFP.

 

The first victim in Thailand to die of the virus

was another six-year-old boy from the western

Kanchanaburi province.

 

The latest death comes as neighbouring Laos

confirmed tests had found the flu virus among

chickens there.

 

" We sent samples to Hanoi for testing and we have

received the result that it is H5, but we don't

know the strain, " an official told Reuters news

agency.

 

China is investigating reports of a possible

outbreak of the virus among its duck population.

 

There are fears that the bird flu virus could

mutate, attaching itself to a human flu virus

which could spread between people.

 

There are so far eight confirmed human deaths

from bird flu: two in Thailand, and six in

Vietnam.

 

Conference

 

Thailand is preparing to host an international

conference on Wednesday to look at ways of

halting the spread of the disease across Asia.

 

Nearly a dozen governments, including China, the

European Union and the United States are due to

attend, said the Thai foreign ministry.

 

Thailand was criticised by the EU on Monday for

" non-transparency " in its dealings over the

outbreak.

 

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, faced with

accusations of a cover-up, has admitted his

government initially kept quiet about its

suspicions that avian flu had broken out, to

avoid causing public panic.

 

Thailand has warned its death toll could be as high as six.

 

The second confirmed death, of another six year

old boy, was made by doctors on Tuesday.

 

They said the child died of severe pneumonia at 1000 local time (0300 GMT).

 

He was admitted to hospital on 15 January

following a referral from a hospital in his

central province of Sukhothai, said medical

officials.

 

They said his mother died earlier in the month,

but could not confirm if she also had bird flu.

 

Criticism

 

The first boy who died is believed to have picked

up the virus after touching the carcasses of

infected poultry in his village in western

Kanchanaburi province.

 

His father, Chamnan Boonmanut, hit out over the

government's handling of the crisis on Monday.

 

" The government knew, so why didn't they tell the

public so that we could protect ourselves? " he

said. " Nobody wants to get sick and die " .

 

The Thai Agriculture Ministry said the virus had

been detected in a further eight provinces, in

addition to the first two - Sukhothai and

Chachanoengsao, east of the capital Bangkok -

already confirmed.

 

The authorities have mounted a huge operation to

cull all birds in the infected areas - more than

24 million have been destroyed so far.

 

But as the number of such areas increases, so too

are the number of angry farmers, says the BBC's

Rachel Harvey in Bangkok.

 

 

Story from BBC NEWS:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3432545.stm

 

Published: 2004/01/27 05:21:33 GMT

 

© BBC MMIV

 

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