DDC urges health ministry to amp up anti-bird flu measures

Published on April 27, 2013 by TFP   ·   No Comments

BANGKOK, 27 April 2013 – The Department of Disease Control (DDC) has encouraged the Public Health Ministry to prepare stringent safety mechanisms for incoming Chinese tourists in a bid to prevent a spread of H7N9 bird flu to Thailand.

An advisor to the DDC stated that the Public Health Ministry needs to prepare enough anti-influenza drugs, particularly Oseltamivir, for distribution in case avian flu infections are detected in the country. He said Chinese tourists arriving in Thailand need to be monitored for signs of illnesses while immediate medical treatment must be made available to those found to have flu-like symptoms.

Despite its preventive efforts, Thailand has not issued travel advisory against China since the outbreak began in the country.

The DDC told the press that according to the World Health Organization (WHO), the H7N9 strain of bird flu is more lethal and can be transmitted more easily than the H5N1 strain, which has claimed hundreds of lives around the world since 2003.

The WHO has said there is as yet no evidence of human-to-human transmission of this new virus. The H7N9 strain has infected 109 people in China and Taiwan and killed 22 people since it was first detected in March this year.

(NNT: Orapa Chueyprasit)

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Article source: http://www.thethailandlinks.com/2013/04/28/ddc-urges-health-ministry-to-amp-up-anti-bird-flu-measures/