No quarantine plan

Dr ML Somchai Chakrabhand

"The transmission can take place only after the disease has affected the patients' lungs. By that time, the patients will already be in hospital. There's no possibility they would be able to roam around public areas," Epidemiology Bureau director Dr Passakorn Assawasewee said yesterday.

There has been no incidence of the disease in Thailand since 1952.

Disease Control Department director general Dr ML Somchai Chakrabhand said the pneumonic plague was a serious disease with a fatality rate that could be as high as 60 per cent.

So far, the latest outbreak has reportedly claimed three lives in Ziketan.

All 64 diseasecontrol checkpoints in Thailand have now been instructed to catch rats and check how many fleas are on them. Rats are the main carrier of the disease, the risk of the pneumonic plague being high if rats are found carrying more than one flea.

Dr Opas Karnkawingpong, who heads the Bureau of General Communicable Diseases, said other possible carriers were squirrels, rabbits, cats, and dogs.

Disease Control Department deputy director general Dr Somchai Nijpanich said when a pneumonicplague case was detected, officials must report it to relevant authorities within 24 hours because this was a very dangerous disease.

"The best way to prevent this disease is to keep one's house clean and tidy. Don't allow rats to thrive because such animals can spread many diseases," Somchai said.