The Public Health Ministry is watching closely for the infection of type-A (H1N1) influenza virus in animals across the country following reports a 13-year-old cat in Iowa, USA, has tested positive for the first time, permanent secretary Dr Paijit Warachit said yesterday.
"Thailand so far has no report of the type-A(H1N1) infection in animals and the ministry will monitor this report closely," he said.
Transmission of the virus from humans to animals - including cats, dogs and other pets - was believed unlikely as the growth and spread of the virus in the two groups is different.
Paijit said he has instructed all provincial public health offices - particularly in the 11 provinces in the lower part of the northern area and the upper part of the middle area - to tighten surveillance of the spread and infection of bird flu and human flu.
Meanwhile, the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation's deputy-director Somchai Srichainark said the first lots of 210,000 doses of antigen inactivated vaccine for the new flu virus would arrive in Thailand by the end of the month.
GPO previously ordered 2 million doses of adjuvanted [immune response boosting] and antigen inactivated vaccine from the French manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur.
The first lot of 1 million doses of inactivated vaccine will be in Thailand by the end of November and mid- December, with another 1 million doses arriving by January next year.
The first lots include 790,000 adjuvanted and 210,000 antigen inactivated vaccines. Somchai said there was no difference in the efficacy of the two vaccines. Adjuvanted vaccine is needed for people likely to have adverse side effects from antigen vaccine.
Women three months into pregnancy would receive non-adjuvanted vaccine while medical workers, obese people and patients with chronic disease such as diabetes and neurological impairment would be given adjuvanted vaccine.
The GPO is now studying the stability of vaccines in animal trials. It said the human trial in 24 volunteers would start by the end of this month. GPO expected its locally-made live attenuated vaccine to be on the market by March next year.
Deputy Public Health Minister Manit Nopamorbodee said during a visit to the GPO he was worried about the number of clean eggs needed to produce the vaccine as Thailand now has to import the specific free pathogen hen eggs from Germany and the US. The GPO requires at least 15,000 clean eggs to produce 4.8 million doses of vaccine.
Somchai said the GPO would ask the Department of Livestock Development and private sectors - including Charoen Pokphand Group and Sahafarm - to help incubate hens and produce clean eggs.
"The quality and quantity of clean eggs in producing vaccine is the most important issue in developing vaccine," he said.
The GPO is also planning to produce more than 40 million tablets of antiviral drugs to ensure the country has enough of the antiviral drug oseltamivir for 4 million people during a second wave of the new flu pandemic.
Currently GPO has 8.7 million tablets of oseltamvir in stockpile. For children aged under 10, the GPO has reserved 128,000 tablets of 30-mg oseltamivir and 85,000 tablets of 45-mg oseltamivir.
GPO has also prepared other preventive material such as handwash gel and facial masks to fight against a second wave of flu.