Thailand points finger at Laos over bird flu
31 Jul 2006 10:04:15 GMT
BANGKOK, July 31 (Reuters) - Thailand is offering help to Laos in stamping out bird flu, a Thai official said on Monday, after Bangkok accused its impoverished neighbour of allowing the H5N1 virus to spread across the border.
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"We know we can't interfere in their domestic issues but we would like to find out what sort of help they need to fight the disease effectively together," Yukol said.
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Lao Foreign Ministry spokesman Yong Chanhthalansy said there had been no reports of outbreaks across the border from Nakhon Panom and criticised Bangkok for suggesting a link to the Thai cases.
"Those remarks were made by irresponsible and uncouth officials," he told Reuters by telephone. "Under the current critical circumstances, we should work together to solve the problem, rather point fingers at one another.
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Adopting an extra cautious stance,
health officials have placed more than 800 people
involved in culling in Nakhon Panom or in hospitals in the area on a bird flu watch-list.
The Agriculture Ministry also banned imports of poultry and equipment from neighbouring countries, with violators facing a maximum penalty of 2 years in jail and/or a 40,000 baht ($1,000) fine.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/BKK104369.htm
OT:
WEST TISBURY, Mass. - State public health officials are warning people on Martha's Vineyard about the dangers of a potentially fatal disease known as "rabbit fever" after six new cases were identified.
Cases of the disease tularemia, or rabbit fever, have occurred on Martha's Vineyard every year since an initial outbreak in 2000 sickened 15 people and resulted in one fatality, according to the Department of Public Health. More than three dozen confirmed cases have been reported on the island in the last five years.
Tularemia is caused by a bacterium found in animals, especially rodents and rabbits. Other species of animals can be infected, including raccoons, skunks, and cats.
"While landscapers should definitely take precautions, anyone working outside near lawn mowing or brush cutting activities should also be careful," Dr. Bela Matyas, DPH medical director for epidemiology, said in a statement.
Health officials said people on the island should seek medical help immediately if they develop fever or respiratory symptoms within seven days of breathing in dust, soil or grasses while landscaping. They should also seek medical help if they develop skin sores, swollen lymph glands or a rash after a tick bite.
Left untreated, about 7 percent of pneumonic tularemia cases in humans are fatal.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060730/ap_on_he_me/rabbit_fever_1