The human toll from bird flu reached 31 yesterday when Thai-land confirmed a nine-year-old girl died from the disease, while Indonesia announced it was among the countries still struggling with Asia's continuing outbreaks.
In Malaysia, which escaped the first wave of the bird flu crisis early this year but reported an outbreak last month, authorities in northern Kelantan state said they were having trouble chasing down chickens for culling at farms where the birds are often allowed to roam free, perching on trees or creeping into bushes.
Kanda Srilueng-On, aged nine, died overnight at a hospital in Phetchabun province only hours after tests confirmed she was stricken with the disease, the Thai Health Ministry said yesterday. She was believed to have caught the disease from infected chickens, and had helped pluck feathers from slaughtered chickens that her family had raised.
The girl's death brought to 11 the number of human deaths in Thailand, which went on high alert last week after reporting its first probable case of human-to-human transmission of the disease. In Vietnam, the only other country to suffer human cases of the virus, 20 people have died.
In addition, more than 100 million chickens and poultry have been killed by the disease or been culled in efforts to curb its spread since the bird flu crisis erupted through much of Asia early this year.
Indonesian officials said yesterday that the virus had again resurfaced in Java, killing 350 chickens and prompting officials to urge further vaccinations. Tests on dead birds showed they had the dangerous H5N1 strain, livestock officials were quoted in the Jakarta Post as saying.
World health officials worry that the longer it takes to contain outbreaks in poultry, the more chances the virus will have to jump to humans and mix with a human influenza virus to form a version that easily passes from person-to-person. However, health experts say there's no evidence to suggest that has happened yet, even in the case of probable human-to-human transmission reported in Thailand.
South Korea’s air force yesterday apologized for a 2021 midair collision involving two fighter jets, a day after auditors said the pilots were taking selfies and filming during the flight and held them responsible for the accident. “We sincerely apologize to the public for the concern caused by the accident that occurred in 2021,” an air force spokesman told a news conference, adding that one of the pilots involved had been suspended from flying duties, received severe disciplinary action and has since left the military. The apology followed a report released on Wednesday by the South Korean Board of Audit and Inspection,
Indonesian police have arrested 13 people after shocking images of alleged abuse against small children at a daycare center went viral, sparking outrage across the nation, officials said on Monday. Police on Friday last week raided Little Aresha, a daycare center in Yogyakarta on Java island, following a report from a former employee. CCTV footage circulating on social media showed children, most younger than two, lying on the floor wearing only diapers, their hands and feet bound with rags. The police have confirmed that the footage is authentic. Police said they also found 20 children crammed into a room just 3m by 3m. “So
About 240 Indians claiming descent from a Biblical tribe landed at Tel Aviv airport on Thursday as part of a government operation to relocate them to Israel. The newcomers passed under a balloon arch in blue and white, the colors of the Israeli flag, as dozens of well-wishers welcomed them with a traditional Jewish song. They were the first “bnei Menashe” (“sons of Manasseh”) to arrive in Israel since the government in November last year announced funding for the immigration of about 6,000 members of the community from the states of Manipur and Mizoram in northeast India. The community claims to descend from
‘TROUBLING’: The firing of Phelan, who was an adviser to a nonprofit that supported the defense of Taiwan, was another example of ‘dysfunction’ under Trump, a US senator said US Secretary of the Navy John Phelan has been fired, a US official and a person familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, in another wartime shakeup at the Pentagon coming just weeks after US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ousted the Army’s top general. The Pentagon announced his departure in a brief statement, saying he was leaving the administration “effective immediately,” but it did not provide a reason or say whether it was his decision to go. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Phelan was dismissed in part because he was moving too slowly to implement reforms to
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