The initial test of a 61-year-old woman in central Thailand who fell ill with bird-flu-like symptoms showed positive for avian influenza, Thai officials and local media reported Thursday.

The patient in Lop Buri Province's Sa Bot district fell ill with bird-flu-like symptoms soon after her backyard chickens all suddenly dropped dead, Thai newspaper the Nation said.

She had initially tested positive for avian influenza and was being treated in an isolation ward pending confirmation from laboratory tests, said Dr. Charn Tantiwa-raporn, director of Ban Mi Hospital, where the victim was admitted on Tuesday.

After being notified about the case, provincial livestock authorities rushed to the woman's home to check for bird flu.

District chief Somsak Intra-watana said he had ordered an urgent cull of all poultry in the province after being notified by the livestock authorities.

This district did not have many chicken farms and most of the poultry were fighting cocks and native hens, he said.

Although denying the existence of bird flu in Sa Bot district, provincial livestock chief Jintana Danwiwatporn said experts were coordinating with other agencies in dealing with hundred of thousands of migratory birds.

Along with warning against cooking and eating sick poultry, the Public Health Ministry was distributing some 100,000 manuals designed to educate the public about bird flu and ways to prevent infections, said Dr Narongsak Ungkhasuwaphala, the ministry's deputy permanent secretary.

Meanwhile, Anutin Charnveerakul, caretaker deputy health minister, said as of Wednesday, 144 patients from 24 provinces, mostly in northern Thailand, had been put on the watch-list for bird flu.

Two more suspected human cases were found in Phichit Province, where the first case of human bird flu was recently confirmed. Phetchabun Province also reported four cases and Phitsanulok three cases.

Source: Xinhua