Zika warning: Thailand named region's "red alert" country

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buksida
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Zika warning: Thailand named region's "red alert" country

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Department of Disease Control chief Dr Amnuay Gajeena Monday urged Thais to help control the breeding of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes.
And provinces where Zika virus patients are being treated were instructed to immediately set up emergency operations centres to contain any outbreaks.

Amnuay said his office had asked the Foreign Affairs Ministry to re-check information and clarify the disease's progress with the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

The ECDC website cited Thailand as a "red alert" country with increasing or widespread Zika virus transmission to the point of having the region's highest number of patients within the last three months.

The rise of Zika infections actually reflected Thailand's awareness, disease-monitoring measures, diagnosis and information disclosures that were up to international standards, Amnuay said.

Affirming that Thailand was continuously implementing intensive measures against the Zika virus, he said the virus was declared a contagious disease under the Communicable Disease Act 2015. This meant any cases must be reported to heath authorities.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakin ... 94019.html
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Re: Zika warning: Thailand named region's "red alert" country

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Hey ECDC and Thai health authorities: How many cases? Where?
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Re: Zika warning: Thailand named region's "red alert" country

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Zika, Rabies, bombs, dengue, Road accidents, Malaria, Ladyboys, Gangs beating up Tourists, military coups ......makes this sound like a hell of a holiday destination!
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Re: Zika warning: Thailand named region's "red alert" country

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Homer wrote:Hey ECDC and Thai health authorities: How many cases? Where?
Latest information I could find was from June 29 2016 from the Bureau of Emerging Infectious Diseases

http://beid.ddc.moph.go.th/beid_2014/si ... 9.6.59.pdf

In the first half of 2016, the accumulated number of Zika virus cases in Thailand is 97. They were reported from 10 provinces (Bueng Kan, Phitsanulok, Uttaradit, Sukhothai, Kanchanaburi, Udon Thani, Nakhon Ratchasima, Nonthaburi, Bangkok, Phetchabun), 16 districts, 26 sub-districts and 42 villages. At present (29 June), 2 provinces (Bueng Kan and Petchabun) are under on-going 28 days active surveillance to ensure that the outbreaks have contained and no spreading to other neighboring areas.
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Re: Zika warning: Thailand named region's "red alert" country

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NOKYAI wrote:Zika, Rabies, bombs, dengue, Road accidents, Malaria, Ladyboys, Gangs beating up Tourists, military coups ......makes this sound like a hell of a holiday destination!
Always the pessimist Nokyai!
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Re: Zika warning: Thailand named region's "red alert" country

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If you are looking for young, cheap readily available Boom-Boom, that trumps all of the above--otherwise Thai is a "why the hell would you go there' place
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Re: Zika warning: Thailand named region's "red alert" country

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HHTel wrote:
NOKYAI wrote:Zika, Rabies, bombs, dengue, Road accidents, Malaria, Ladyboys, Gangs beating up Tourists, military coups ......makes this sound like a hell of a holiday destination!
Always the pessimist Nokyai!
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Re: Zika warning: Thailand named region's "red alert" country

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More Awareness, Reporting Cited for Thailand’s Rise in Reported Zika Cases
n apparent surge in the number of reported Zika cases in Thailand is most likely due to better surveillance, reporting and awareness of the disease, health experts said.

Although nearly 100 people have become infected with the Zika virus in six months, Thai health officials told the public Tuesday not to worry after a European health agency put Thailand in the red zone of countries where the disease is a threat.

“This is partly because surveillance has been strengthened in Thailand, but also because clinicians are much more aware of the disease and so are testing more people,” said Rick Brown of the World Health Organization’s Thailand office.

On Friday, concerns were raised after Thailand’s was moved into the red zone of a map by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, or ECDC, for having “widespread transmission” of the disease.

More: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/heal ... ika-cases/
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Re: Zika warning: Thailand named region's "red alert" country

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This will come as no surprise :D

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/nationa ... 95121.html

Thai authorities downplay Zika risk, worried by tourism impact
Health and city officials in Thailand downplayed risks from rising infections from the mosquito-borne Zika virus, which is linked to serious birth defects, and expressed concern that disclosing information would damage its tourism industry.

On Friday the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDPC) warned of the increasing spread in Thailand of Zika, which can cause microcephaly in unborn children.

Thailand is combating the risk by misting and spraying mosquito-infested areas, said Anuttarasakdi Ratchatatat, epidemiologist at the health ministry’s Bureau of Vector Borne Disease.

It has not changed or updated its Zika prevention plan since Singapore, which has a more extensive prevention campaign, began reporting a spike in cases from late August.

Twenty-two new cases were confirmed on Sunday in the upmarket Sathorn area of Bangkok, part of the city’s Central Business District, including a pregnant woman who later gave birth with no complications.

"It’s concerning because I live just around the corner," said Dietrich Neu, a Canadian who works in publishing.

"It’s different in Canada; the government would be all over it. There would be a centre where people can get treated and leaflets about what the symptoms are."

The health ministry on Monday urged Thais not to panic as it said the virus was not deadly or contagious - though in fact it can be passed on sexually - and ministry epidemiologist Anuttarasakdi added that it did not want to deter tourists.

"The information on Zika is quite sensitive because if we say which province has infections then attention will turn on that province, and if that province is popular with tourists it will have an impact on tourism," he said.

"We don’t want people to be too alarmed."

Health authorities in Thailand are not treating Zika as seriously as dengue, which is much more widespread in the country, said Assistant Professor Watcharee Chokejindachai from the Faculty of Tropical Medicine at Mahidol University in Bangkok, because of a perception that Zika is less dangerous.

"Dengue is perceived as more serious; it can lead to death. That’s why they pay more attention to dengue than Zika," Watcharee told Reuters.

"Diagnosing Zika is also more expensive than dengue because it takes time - up to eight hours - whereas with dengue we have a rapid test which takes 15 minutes."

There have been more than 31,000 dengue cases in Thailand this year to Aug. 19, including 25 fatalities, according to the International Society for Infectious Diseases.

’OPEN POLICY’

Several countries in Southeast Asia have reported a rising number of Zika cases, but Thailand has one of the highest number in the region, with more than 100 confirmed since January.

A total of 30 pregnant Thai women with the virus are being monitored, the health ministry said. Six have given birth with no complications, so far.
A map showing countries with active local transmission of Zika from the ECDPC updated on Friday shows Thailand with "increasing or widespread transmission".

Singapore, where homes have been inspected and communities blanketed with information leaflets, reported its first locally infected Zika patient on Aug. 27, and the number of reported infections has since swelled to more than 300.

People there risk fines if they have even a flower pot with old water in it.

Samlee Pliangbangchang, Regional Director of the World Health Organisation's Southeast Asia Region from 2004 to 2014, said Thailand should be more transparent in reporting the Zika threat to the public and should look to Singapore as an example.

"The Ministry of Public Health don’t want people to be afraid, so they say they have it under control," Samlee told Reuters.
"The truth is we don’t know the extent of the Zika spread in Thailand," he added.

"Singapore has an open policy to inform the public about what is going on so that the public can take precautions. Maybe we should do that, too."
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Re: Zika warning: Thailand named region's "red alert" country

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The man with the Spray/Misting machine used to come around my area in Soi 88 every couple of months and do all the drains.

It has to be at least 12 months now since he was last seen. :guns: :guns: :guns:
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Re: Zika warning: Thailand named region's "red alert" country

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I'm not far from Soi 88 (close to Wittayacomp School), and he comes to us every couple of weeks. Mrs BB always invites him into house to give it a really spray around the outside.
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Re: Zika warning: Thailand named region's "red alert" country

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I'm not very far away........ in the area of the fresh food market in between 7/11 and Malee. Used to see him quite often but not a sniff for a long time.

Might get the boss to pop in to the Tessaban office to have a word.
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Re: Zika warning: Thailand named region's "red alert" country

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Absolutely typical. Remember the 'bird flu'. Thailand stated categorically that it was not a problem and their exported chickens were 100 per cent safe.......... until it was proved a lie and a cover-up.
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Re: Zika warning: Thailand named region's "red alert" country

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http://www.reuters.com/article/us-healt ... SKCN11J17O

About 200 Zika cases recorded in Thailand:

Thailand has recorded about 200 cases of Zika since January, the health ministry said on Tuesday, making it a country with one of the highest numbers of confirmed cases in the region.

It was the first time Thailand's health ministry has confirmed the number of Zika cases this year.

The announcement comes a day after health experts called on Thailand to be more transparent in reporting the Zika threat to the public after health officials played down risks from rising infections of the mosquito-borne virus.

Health officials have expressed concern that disclosing information on Zika, which is linked to serious birth defects, would damage Thailand's lucrative tourism industry.

"Since January, we have recorded about 200 cases and over the past three weeks, we have confirmed an average of 20 new cases per week," Ministry of Public Health spokesman Suwannachai Wattanayingcharoenchai told Reuters.

"The number of cases is stable," he said, without giving further details.

Island city-state Singapore reported its first locally infected Zika patient on Aug. 27 and since then, the number of reported infections has soared to more than 300.

Malaysia and the Philippines have also reported cases.

The virus, which is affecting large parts of Latin America and the Caribbean, has been circulating in Asia for years.

The lineage of the virus circulating in Asia is different to the one in the Americas, researchers say. The level of population immunity to the lineage of Zika in Asia remains unknown, according to the World Health Organization.

Suwannachai urged the public not to panic and reiterated a message aimed at reassuring tourists.

"People shouldn't be scared to visit provinces affected by the Zika virus," Suwannachai said.

Zika infections in pregnant women have been shown to cause microcephaly - a severe birth defect in which the head and brain are undersized - as well as other brain abnormalities.

The connection between Zika and microcephaly first came to light last year in Brazil, which has since confirmed more than 1,800 cases of microcephaly.

Thailand has found no cases of microcephaly linked to Zika and it is monitoring about two dozen pregnant woman and about six who have given birth with no complications, the health ministry said.

In adults, Zika infections have also been linked to a rare neurological syndrome known as Guillain-Barre, as well as other neurological disorders.

The virus was first identified in Uganda in 1947
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