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With two new confirmed human cases in Vietnam, along with widespread outbreaks in poultry, other countries in S.E. Asia are understandably worried about outbreaks in their country.
Health authorities nationwide to monitor bird flu closely
BANGKOK, June 3 (TNA) - Thailand's Minister of Public Health Mongkol Na Songkhla said Sunday he had ordered provincial health officials and hospitals nationwide to closely monitor nine severely threatening diseases during the three-month rainy season, starting this month.
The nine diseases include bird flu, influenza, lung inflammation and dengue fever, Dr. Mongkol said. He noted that he had ordered health officials and some 800,000 village health volunteers to closely follow deaths reported among poultry in the country's villages.
However, no new bird flu victims were reported in Thailand during the first five months of this year, he said.
Disease Control Department director-general Thawat Suntrajarn said his agency had warned the public about the diseases because they usually recur the rainy season.
Dr. Thawat said 21,919 patients of the nine diseases were reported in the country during May, with six patients died -- four from inflammation of the lungs and two from acute diarrhea. (TNA) - E111
