April 29, 2009
BANGKOK (AFP) - Thai medical authorities Wednesday cleared a woman suspected of having swine flu after she was quarantined in a Bangkok hospital.
The 42-year-old Thai woman came to Chulalongkorn hospital suffering from a mild fever after returning from a recent trip to Mexico and California.
"This patient is not infected with Mexican flu. She has suffered from seasonal... flu that is commonly found in Thailand in rainy and cold seasons," said Yong Poovorawan, head of the hospital's centre for clinical viruses.
"We confirm that at present there is no swine flu infection in Thailand," he added.
The woman had been quarantined in line with medical guidelines while the hospital's teams ran various tests on her, he said.
"The patient's symptoms have returned to normal. The doctor is considering letting her go home today or tomorrow," said Dhiraphongs Charoenvidhya, deputy director at the hospital.
Mexico, the epicentre of the outbreak, said the number of confirmed and suspected deaths from the flu had risen to 159, while 1,311 people remain in hospital there after exhibiting symptoms of the flu.
In Asia, Australia is probing 91 possible cases and New Zealand, the only country in the region with confirmed cases, has 14 probable or confirmed infections.
The health ministry in South Korea is investigating five suspected and one "probable" infection.
