Thai health authorities watch out for H7N9 strain of avian influenza

BANGKOK, April 1 (TNA) - The Thai Ministry of Public Health is watching out for the H7N9 strain of avian influenza, which has killed people in China, although the deadly disease has not been detected in Thailand. Thai Public Health Minister Dr. Pradit Sintawanarong warned on Monday that people who are close to poultry may contract the H7N9 virus, which has already killed two of three patients in China. Dr. Pradit told journalists that 88 patients have been under close watch in China and he has, therefore, ordered his ministry's Department of Medical Sciences to prepare laboratories and Bureau of Epidemiology and all hospitals to pay special attention to severe respiratory patients for swift disease control. The Thai health minister said that he has also instructed rapid movement health units to cooperate with officials of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives' livestock development and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to closely monitor the health of local farm and wild fowl. China’s National Population and Family Planning Commission reported, meanwhile, that two Chinese people have died of the H7N9 virus, one is an 87-year-old man who was sick in Shanghai on February 19, 2013 and died on March 4 and the other is a 27-year-old man who was ill on February 27 and died on March 10, and that a 35-year-old woman was also ill in Anhui province on March 9 and has been treated at a local hospital. (TNA)