CHIANG MAI, 30 January 2014 The Department of Disease Control (DDC) has denied a report that a soldier in Chiang Mai died from bird flu infection, saying the patient was, in fact, suffering from seasonal flu with complications.
Director-General of the DDC Sopon Mekthon announced that after a thorough examination of the death of Private Somchai Sri-eaungdoi of Kawila Army Camp in Chiang Mai, the responsible virus was found to be the H1N1 strain of influenza. A typhus infection was another factor causing his illness to be fatal.
The director-general rebutted previous claims by Theppanya Hospital that the patient succumbed to bird flu. He confirmed that no bird flu cases had resurfaced in Thailand lately.
Previously, Private Somchai started having a fever on January 23 and his condition quickly worsened before he was admitted to Kawila Camp Hospital with flu symptoms and pulmonary infection. He was then forwarded to Theppanya Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
