Thai workers remove chikens from pens

Pranee Krongkaew, 26, probably caught the disease while caring for her sick 11-year-old daughter in hospital, officials said Sept. 28. The girl died in September from suspected bird flu.

But officials played down the worst fears of the World Health Organization that the virus could have mutated into a highly contagious form that would trigger a global human flu pandemic.

"This probable human-to-human transmission of avian influenza was related to a single index case and was limited within a family," according to a statement by the Public Health Ministry.

"Although the finding of probable human-to-human transmission is clearly of concern, there is no evidence of ongoing chains of transmission or risk to people outside of the affected province."

Asia has been hit by two waves of the disease since December last year that have left 29 people dead in Thailand and Vietnam, and killed more than 100 million birds across the region.

The first 28 deaths were linked to close contact between infected birds and humans.

The Japan Times Weekly: Oct. 2, 2004
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