# 2681
I tend to watch for stories out of Thailand for several reasons.
First, Thailand has been very successful over the past two-plus years at controlling bird flu, after a less than stellar start in 2004-2005.
They've seen a few outbreaks in poultry - quickly contained - but have reported no human infections since 2006.
Second, my twin brother lives there, in Pattaya, when he isn't traveling around the world as an entertainer.
So naturally, any bird flu news there is of interest to me.
And lastly, because Thailand is surrounded by nations with less sophisticated medical surveillance. If a problem developed in Myanmar, or Laos, or Cambodia . . . news of it might first reach us from Thailand.
Thailand has a very long, and often porous border, with their neighbors. Millions of refugees live in migrant camps along these borders, with most coming from Myanmar (Burma).
These are remote areas where medical problems could break out, and the authorities might be slow to learn about it.
This from the Bangkok Post.
UN calls for bird flu watch among migrant camps
- By: APIRADEE TREERUTKUARKUL
- Published: 21/01/2009 at 12:00 AM
- Newspaper section: News
Thailand needs to urgently address bird flu surveillance, especially among migrant border camps, to avoid a possible flu pandemic, UN experts say.
The experts said health and livestock officials should immediately investigate reports of the detection of bird flu in migrant areas. Border regions are considered to be high-risk areas.
An estimated 2.5 million migrants live in these camps. However there have been no substantial reports of bird flu in refugee camps since its emergence in Thailand in 2004, said Wantanee Kalpravidh, representative of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation.
"Despite having successful control measures against bird flu, it's essential that the government needs to map out risk areas of bird flu along the 4,500km border so bird flu preparedness will be effectively exercised. We cannot afford to be complacent," she told a workshop on avian and human influenza preparation organised by the International Labour Organisation yesterday.
The workshop was aimed at helping promote preparedness and a reduction of avian influenza infection among workers at poultry farms and operators of small and medium-scale businesses.
Thailand shares its border with Burma, Cambodia, Laos and Malaysia where bird flu cases have been detected.
Biological security at small and medium-scale poultry farms should be improved to ensure the deadly strain did not transmit from poultry to workers.
It was possible that sporadic cases of bird flu could occur among backyard chickens as the disease had become endemic in rural areas, she said.
World Health Organisation representative Somchai Peerapakorn agreed that training on bird flu prevention should be strengthened among migrant populations. The issue of migrant health protection was addressed during the World Health Assembly in Geneva last year.
"A human pandemic will definitely occur," he said.
"Pandemic preparedness therefore is very important. We need to scale up prevention among human and animal health while we still have time to do so."
Surveillance zones have been declared in 14 provinces in the lower North and Central Plains, including Bangkok, in an effort to beef up measures against bird flu outbreaks during the cool season and the coming Chinese New Year, when a number of poultry would be culled for the festival.
The latest bird flu outbreak was diagnosed at a poultry farm in Uthai Thani province in November last year. A total of 25 people have been infected since 2004, with 17 deaths.
