Thai girl dies of bird flu

2004-10-25 11:46

Bangkok - A 14-year-old girl was confirmed on Monday as being the 12th person in Thailand to die this year from bird flu, the country's health ministry said.

Test results confirmed that the girl from the northern province of Sukhotai, who died six days ago, had the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus.

"She was on the list of suspected cases after she died after being sick for 11 days," said Charal Trinvuthipong, the director of Thailand's bird flu centre. "The lab test result found she had H5N1."

At least 19 people have also died of the disease in Vietnam since December last year and millions of birds have died or have been culled across Asia.

Six Asian nations have reported a resurgence of the virus amid fears that the disease has become endemic in the region.

Five people have been confirmed as having bird flu in Thailand since the second wave of outbreaks, with four of them having died.

Another probable case

An 11-year-old girl, who was cremated before full tests were carried out, is also listed as a "probable" case and is suspected of passing the disease on to her mother who cared for her in hospital. The mother also died.

Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra announced a "war" on bird flu for October and told officials that he wanted the country cleared of the disease by the end of the month.

But bird flu was identified in 41 of Thailand's 76 provinces from October 1 to 22, more than at the start of the month, according to a statement from the bird flu centre.

The country's agriculture minister was replaced earlier this month in a wide-ranging cabinet reshuffle as he paid the price of failing to halt the spread of the disease in the kingdom.

Thailand will host a ministerial-level regional conference on bird flu next month.

- AFP