Thai girl has flu

2004-10-03 14:19

Bangkok, Thailand - A nine-year-old girl in northern Thailand has tested positive for bird flu, becoming the most recent person to be infected by the virus since it resurfaced in Southeast Asia in July, a health ministry official said on Sunday.

Kanda Srilueng-On, who is in critical condition, is believed to have contracted the disease from infected birds, said deputy public health minister Anuthin Chanveerakul.

She was hospitalised in Phetchabun province on September 30 with flu-like symptoms, and test results on Sunday showed she has the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu, he said.

Thailand went on high alert last week after it reported that an earlier bird flu victim died after probably contracting the virus from her daughter, in the first likely case of human-to-human transmission in the country.

Ten people have died of bird flu in Thailand and 20 in Vietnam this year. More than 100 million chickens and poultry have died or been culled since the disease spread across large swaths of Asia early this year.

- AP