A girl infected with bird flu virus was discharged from a local hospital in Shan State on 12 December as she was in good condition after receiving treatment.

Specimens of four persons who were suspected of being infected with the virus during the bird flu outbreak in November in Naungngin Village, Kengtung Township, were sent to the public health lab in Yangon which confirmed on 26 November that among the four, Ma Nan Kham Than, 7, was infected with the virus. She had been kept in quarantine and given a dosage of thimbleful pills at the People’s Hospital in Kengtung since 27 November.

Human samples of those four persons were also sent to a lab in Bangkok, Thailand, and a lab of WHO in Tokyo, Japan, and the laboratory tests also confirmed on 13 December that Ma Nan Kham Than was infected with the virus.

After the outbreak, Ministry of Health monitored 689 close contact persons who involved in culling chickens and live near the farms and found four persons who were suspected of being infected with the birdflu virus.

The ministry monitored close contact persons for 10 days and confirmed that other persons were not infected with the virus.

Acting on information that some domestic fowls were found to be dead unusual in Naungngin Village, Kentung Township, Shan State (East), on 18 November, responsible personnel of Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department conducted thorough examinations and lab tests on the dead chickens and found H5N1 virus.

However, the outbreak was put under control in a short time, thanks to the control measures of the local authorities, LBVD staff, related departments and social organizations.