UTTARADIT, 2 June 2012 – Forty conscripts of a cavalry unit were immediately taken to Uttaradit’s Fort Phichaidaphak Hospital after they all suffered headaches, fever, fatigue, breathing difficulties, and accelerated heartbeat. Military officials put up a sign that declared the hospital to be in quarantine until June 5.
Inside the hospital, medical staff and military personnel alike wore protective masks. Outsiders were strictly forbidden entry to the hospital. Doctors and nurses were reportedly busy treating the conscripted soldiers from the 1st Cavalry Unit of the Third Army Region who were afflicted by a contagious disease still unidentified.
While the forty soldiers fell ill because of an unknown disease, another sixty were put under close medical observation. Another solider was critically ill and have to be taken to the provincial hospital. The soldiers’ symptoms included headaches, fever, fatigue, breathing difficulties, accelerated heartbeat, and lung inflammation similar to a cold disease, but of a greater severity.
No high-level authorities at Fort Phichaidaphak Hospital could be reached for comment on the matter.
