- Writer: BangkokPost.com
- Published: 4/08/2009 at 02:43 PM
The Public Health Ministry is ready to enforce the Communicable Diseases Act to deal with a possible outbreak of pneumonic plague if the World Health Organisation (WHO) declares a pandemic.
Three people are reported to have died of pneumonic plague in a quarantined town in the northwestern Chinese province of Qinghai in the first four days of the outbreak.
The Public Health Ministry has ordered 64 border checkpoints and all airports nationwide to implement stringent measures to prevent the disease from spreading to Thailand, Department of Communicable Disease director-general Somchai Jakrapandhu said on Tuesday.
Dr Somchai said officials must also examine the pig population as they are vectors for many diseases.
The health ministry had also warned people to be careful of rodent vectors such as squirrels and rabbits.
Pneumonic plague is one of the deadly infectious diseases caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. It is capable of killing humans within 24 hours of infection.
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