Mystery rise in bird-flu reports
Laboratory tests on three patients suspected to have caught the bird-flu virus in the northern province of Phichit confirmed that they did not have the disease, the Public Health Ministry said yesterday.
Two children, aged 7 and 12, from Thab Khlo district, and a 32-year-old woman showed no signs of the lethal H5N1 virus, said Dr Pratch Boonyawongwiroj, the ministry's deputy permanent secretary.All had reportedly fallen sick with similar symptoms of high fever, coughing and muscular pain after being in contact with home-raised chickens that died of unexplainable causes, said the doctor. The ministry warned the public against cooking poultry that had died of irregular symptoms. Whether it was because of mounting concerns among health workers or the number of cases was rising, the reported number of patients listed as suspected cases of bird flu had surged from a few to about 20 per day, said Dr Kumnuan Ungchusak, director of the ministry's bureau of epidemiology. Dr Phaijit Warachit, head of the Department of Medical Science responsible for testing the virus, said there had still been no sign of the virus being significantly mutated or developing drug resistance. Mounting public concern over bird flu has prompted Songkhla Zoo to feed carnivo
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