Thailand worried about potential return of H5N1 avian flu
Experts are warning the deadly H5N1 strain of avian influenza could re-emerge in Thailand even though there has been little sign of it for years, the Bangkok Post reported.
Migratory birds could possibly transmit avian influenza from animal to human without stringent disease surveillance, according to Pilaipan Puthavathana, a virologist at Siriraj Hospital’s department of microbiology.
“Nobody dares to say the virus has been wiped out here as long as our neighboring countries continue to report bird flu cases,” she said in a summary of a three-year follow up on avian flu surveillance from animals to humans in Thailand.
