Lecturer does not have Mexican flu

A lab-based diagnosis showed that the 42-year-old government lecturer had normal flu despite the high fever and suspicious symptoms, said Dr Khamnuan Ungchoosak, a senior adviser with the Disease Control Department.

However, a Chulalongkorn Hospital expert on the virus said it would take another two days to confirm the diagnosis. Prof Dr Yong Phoosuwan said further diagnosis would be required if the results show a new type of virus that is different from the one that causes the common flu.

The swine influenza, under a department directive, is now called the "Mexican human flu" in Thailand in order to make people more aware about its origin and the risk of a human-to-human transfer. The word swine has been removed so people are not scared of consuming pork.

Khamnuan said the lecturer was in Mexico attending a conference from April 3 to 11 and sought treatment in hospital on August 23. He said the World Heath Organisation had raised the alertness level from three to four, explaining that the disease had to be contained at level 4, otherwise it would develop into a pandemic. He added that a second epidemic detected in a continent other than where it originated was marked level 5.

Khamnuan said if there were no more cases of swine flu reported within the next few weeks, there was a possibility that it could be contained. The virus takes seven to 10 days to develop in human carriers.

The doctor said suspicious cases reported in Spain and New Zealand had not yet been diagnosed with swine flu, adding that health volunteers and livestock officials were now adopting the same precautionary measures as they did during the spread of avian flu in Thailand a few years ago.