MAE HONG SON, Oct 1 – Over 100 refugees with symptoms of common flu -- influenza -- are receiving inpatient medical treatment in the nursing sections of two refugee camps in the northern province of Mae Hong Son.
The camps comprise refugees who fled Myanmar when the Karen military headquarters at Manerplaw was overrun by the Burmese army in 1995, although the majority of camp residents are under age 15 and have never been outside Thailand.
Sop Moei acting district chief Maj Yutthana Chaodupree said the medical NGO Malteser International (MI) which gives medical and other services to Mae La Ma Luang and Mae La Oon camps reported that 1,103 patients at Mae La Oon temporary shelter sought medical treatment from September 19 to 25, and 74 stayed in the nursing quarters of the camp.
Meanwhile, Malteser International reported 633 patients at Mae Ra Ma Luang camp, of which 36 remained under treatment at the nursing station.
Maj Yutthana said no fatalities were reported and that MI collected samples of three patients for lab tests which are expected to be known in two weeks.
Sop Moei district authorities informed government and private agencies concerned in the two areas including the district’s public health office to help contain the disease.
He said he believed that the situation will gradually improve and that infections will drop.
The two camps were closed Wednesday for 15 days as a quarantine measure to present infections from spreading.
The NGO umbrella organization Burma Border Consortium confirmed the outbreak of influenza in Mae Ra La Luang which happens sometimes "due to the cramped conditions in camps. However there are no confirmed cases to date of either swine or bird flu," according to the agency.
Both the health NGO MI and Thailand's Ministry of Public Health are checking the situation and conducting tests.
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