A 42-year-old Thai woman returning from Mexico, who was earlier suspected to have infected with swine influenza and being quarantined at Chulalongkorn Hospital in Bangkok as the first suspected swine flu case in Thailand, is free of the deadly swine-flu strain, senior medical officials at Chulalongkorn Hospital announced Wednesday.
The Thai woman has been admitted to and quarantined at the hospital since Tuesday after having had a fever since April 25, Prof Dr. Yong Phooworawan, Head of the Center of Excellence in Clinical of Virology, Chulalongkorn Hospital, told a press conference Wednesday.
Two laboratory tests conducted on the woman for a possible swine-flu infection showed that she is free from the deadly swine flu, said Dr. Yong.
And, Dr. Yong said based on the laboratory tests: "she is found of having suffered from ordinary human flu."
The Thai woman reported to the hospital that she was in Mexico during April 3-11, and after that she traveled to California and stayed there until April 19, and returned to Thailand, according to the doctor.
In a related development, Thailand's national-level committee in charge of preventing the swine flu outbreak will meet on Wednesday afternoon to discuss precautionary measures to prevent the deadly flu outbreak in the country.
On Tuesday Thailand's weekly cabinet meeting resolved to set up this new committee and appointed Deputy Prime Minister Sanan Kajornprasart as the chairman of the new panel.
The newly-set-up committee will also coordinate with international organizations including the World Health Organization (WTO) to tackle the swine flu outbreaks.
(Xinhua News Agency April 29, 2009)
