OFFICIALS ADMIT KNOWING ABOUT BIRD FLU STRAIN SINCE AUGUST

gotlost

gotlost

Kap Chong R Us Member
OFFICIALS ADMIT KNOWING ABOUT BIRD FLU STRAIN SINCE AUGUST
By
Asaree Thaitrakulpanich, Staff Reporter
-
March 26, 2018 5:47 pm
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A bird of prey Saturday in Korat Zoo.

SURIN — Animal control departments on Monday admitted to dozens of mammals dying in Isaan for the past seven months due to a strain of avian flu – a day after a disease specialist chided them for concealing the information.

The Department of Livestock Development in Surin said it knew about dozens of small carnivorous mammals infected with bird flu in 10 Isan provinces since August – which led 15 of them to die. The acknowledgment came a day after an expert said avian flu in Thailand was not being publicized enough.

“It’s not shared a lot on social media, but bird flu is still very important. If citizens are not aware, after birds die they could still prepare them as food,” said Teerawat Hemachuta of the Center of Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases at the Faculty of Veterinary Science, Chulalongkorn University.

Teerawat said on Sunday that public health officials are not publicizing the issue because responsible disease control, livestock and agriculture state departments fear it could affect poultry exports.


“The public fear and economic costs that large private businesses will have to suffer from exporting less raw chicken is incomparable to spreading a disease that began in Thailand all over the world. It will be remembered as the Thai Flu, much like the Spanish Flu that killed 30 million,” Teerawat said.

Asian palm civets, small Indian civets, small-toothed palm civets, crab-eating mongooses, fishing cats and jungle cats were among the animals that died from the disease. Of the 15 dead animals, six tested positive for H5N1, a type of virus that causes severe respiratory distress in birds, which they possibly acquired by ingesting infected chickens and quails.

“My gardener in Korat told me that flocks of chickens died in his and his neighbor’s yard for an unknown reason,” Teerawat said Monday. He said he sent disease experts to investigate and found they had a strain of bird flu, the presence of which was unknown to animal control officials in the area.

Teerawat said non-avian animals also died August through October 2017 in Korat Zoo.

“This shows that the disease’s genetic code is evolving to contract to other species and is an important warning of human contraction,” he said.

He referenced the human contraction of the virus to a Chinese woman in Feb. 14.

On Saturday, Korat Zoo asked people not to share information about their animals being infected with avian flu, claiming that it was false news.

http://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/...t-knowing-about-bird-flu-strain-since-august/
 
This is very concerning news for some one that lives not 200 meters from a major chicken farm. I guess even more of a worry for the chicken farm owners.
 
The wife just spent 8 hours with 130 people at the Surin Provinical Livestock Office in Surin yesterday, now granted the topic was Cows R US BUT not one word was said about a bird flu and on top of that there has been no talk at all in our area or has there been a report of any bird flu. It is something to keep your eyes out for and I know there are forum member who's extended family raises KFC.
 
Rice said:
This is very concerning news for some one that lives not 200 meters from a major chicken farm. I guess even more of a worry for the chicken farm owners.
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Be prepared!

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Don't worry Rice, we will be suitably dressed when next you visit.
 
On a side note Makro in Buriram have BUTTERBALL TURKEYS which were banned by Thailand because of the bird flu in the USA that infected the turkey industry.

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gotlost said:
On a side note Makro in Buriram have BUTTERBALL TURKEYS which were banned by Thailand because of the bird flu in the USA that infected the turkey industry.

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Actually they were banned as retaliation because the states banned certain Thai products. If I remember it was a ban on Thai shrimp or fish products due to the slaves being used in the fishing industry.

And, the turkeys in Makro now are fresh stock. Unless the f**kers are selling birds frozen more than a year ago.
 
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Doctor’s bird-flu warning rejected
national March 27, 2018 01:00

By The Nation

2,259 Viewed

Govt officials deny cover-up regarding recent animal deaths at Korat zoo


AUTHORITIES HAVE denied rumours that bird-flu infections were detected in Thailand last year.

At least three relevant agencies, including the Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry, will also join a press conference today to assure the public that the country has not seen any bird-flu cases for more than a decade.

Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Grisada Boonrach said yesterday that his ministry would not try to hide a bird-flu infection because concealment would not deliver any benefit.


“We are telling the truth,” he said.

Grisada said he had already talked to Public Health Ministry’s permanent secretary, Dr Jedsada Chokdamrongsuk, who also insisted no one had been infected with bird flu during the past year.

“Both ministries have constantly monitored the situation,” Grisada said.

He was speaking after Dr Thiravat Hemachudha, a prominent doctor at the Chulalongkorn University, was quoted in a new report as suggesting that animal deaths at the Nakhon Ratchasima Zoo might have been linked to bird flu and that the dangerous virus linked to the disease might have undergone DNA changes.

Lawsuits recommended

Dr Teerawat Valaisathien, who heads Disease Prevention Control Office 9, also previously said that bird flu had killed civets at the Nakhon Ratchasima Zoo, very likely because of infected animal feed.

Nakhon Ratchasima Zoo’s director, Tewin Rattanawongsawat, recently said that although many animals died just outside his zoo months ago, Livestock Development Department (LDD) tests confirmed they did not die of bird flu.

At present, LDD labs are said to be the only facilities equipped to determine whether an animal has died of bird flu.

Grisada yesterday said any businesses affected by the false rumours could turn to the court to seek compensation.

The Thai Broiler Processing Exporters’ Association, however, said the rumours had not affected business operations to date.

“Buyers pay attention to official information from the Livestock Development Department,” the association’s manager Kukrit Areepakorn said.

The Disease Control Department’s director-general, Dr Suwannachai Wattana-yingcharoenchai, separately said yesterday that the last time a bird-flu patient was confirmed in Thailand was in 2006.

“We have not seen any bird-flu infection since that year,” he said.

He said had a bird-flu infection occurred, it would have been impossible for anyone to try to hide it.
 
Doctor stands firm on bird-flu warning amid govt denials

By THE NATION





File photo



Top officials reject concerns about H5N1 after dead animals found at zoo.


A RESPECTED doctor has stood by his claims that there were bird-flu infections in Thailand last year, even after several senior government officials issued denials on Monday.



Dr Thiravat Hemachudha, who heads the Emerging Infectious Disease Health Science Centre at Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Medicine, yesterday released details of bird-flu incidents to back up his claim.



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Dr Thiravat Hemachudha



He said a full investigation into the deaths of several animals between August and September last year confirmed bird flu had occurred in Thailand.



“The Animal Health Research Centre for Lower Northeast [in Surin], for example, found all 40 small carnivores that became sick or died at a zoo were infected by H5N1,” he said.



According to the World Health Organisation, not all avian influenza viruses cause disease in humans but some can infect humans and cause severe infections. The most well-known of these is the H5N1 virus.



Thiravat added that he had already forwarded information he had to Public Health Minister Dr Piyasakol Sakolsatayadorn.



On Monday, Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Grisada Boonrach insisted that bird flu had been eradicated in Thailand more than a decade ago and suggested that businesses affected by Thiravat’s claim could consider suing for compensation.



However, Thiravat has refused to back down, presenting further details about bird-flu cases that he said occurred in Thailand last year.



He said livestock officials had been alerted about suspicious animal deaths and went to investigate, while control measures were also implemented. For example, a zoo official with flu-like symptoms was prescribed Oseltamivir, which is often prescribed for people suspected of catching bird flu.



Thiravat said 32 zoo officials were also put on surveillance in the wake of bird-flu infections.



He added that the zoo had also temporarily closed its small-carnivore zone as a precaution and banned animal transport and fowl feed at its compound.



“Believing that zoo animals might have caught bird flu from quails, livestock officials also checked quail farms in four districts of Nakhon Ratchasima,” Thiravat said, in an apparent reference to the Nakhon Ratchasima Zoo.



The academic also released written communications between two doctors, whose names were withheld.



The conversation was a discussion on whether authorities should activate bird-flu responses and warnings. The two also discussed what medical equipment the Public Health Ministry would have to prepare in the event that bird flu spread.



Earlier this week, Thiravat said he had spoken up about bird-flu incidents in Thailand in the hope that relevant authorities would prepare a proper emergency response.



Thiravat said he was especially worried about the possibility the virus would spread from fowl to various other types of animals.



“Now, we see civets, fishing cats and crab-eating mongooses infected by the bird-flu virus,” he said. “What if the virus can pass on from these types of animals to humans?”



Livestock Development Department deputy director-general Jeerasak Pipattanapong-sophon said his agency had not found any spread of H5N1.



“We have inspected the Nakhon Ratchasima Zoo and it does not have a bird-flu problem either,” he said.



Akkapob Thongsawatwong, who heads the 3rd Regional Bureau of Animal Health and Sanitary, said although many deaths were reported at the zoo, they were not related to H5N1.



He said animal carcasses had been sent to the Animal Health Research Centre for Lower Northeast and results of detailed lab tests showed they were not positive to H5N1.



Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30341884


 
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