Bird flu alert nationwide
Provincial health offices across Thailand have been ordered on high alert for bird flu following the death of eight people from the virus in Cambodia so far this year, permanent secretary for public health Narong Sahamethapat said on Tuesday.
Ly Sovann, deputy head of the Cambodian health ministry's disease surveillance bureau, confirmed that nine cases of bird flu had been reported since Jan 1, with eight fatalities, Mr Narong said.
Health officials have to be alert, particularly in Sa Kaeo province, where Cambodian people cross the border every day to trade, he said.
Medical staff in state hospitals have intensified patient screening for the disease. Supplies of oseltamivir, an effective antiviral drug, had been prepared in local hospitals
He said that about 1,200 of surveillance and rapid response teams were ready in case bird flu is detected in Thailand.
There have been no bird-flu cases in Thailand for seven years, not since 2006, he added.
