African Horse Sickness, a viral disease which affects only animals, has now killed 146 horses in the northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima, or Korat. The chief of the provincial livestock development office says 13 other horses also had severe symptoms. The deaths have so far been limited to the province’s Pak Chong district.

Previously, tests confirmed that more than 100 horses in Pak Chong had died of the African horse sickness, or African plague.

Nakhon Ratchasima’s governor issued an order on March 26 prohibiting the movement of horses out of the area to prevent the spread of the disease. Five road checkpoints were set up to block the movement of the animals following the deaths.

PHOTO: Bangkok Post

The province has 1,455 horses at 110 farms. Of those, 1,002 were in Pak Chong, 368 in Muang district and the remainder in other districts.

Pak Chong has 46 horse farms. All have been asked to spray disinfectant and insecticide. Mosquito nets were also erected at the stables. All farms have given full cooperation to provincial authorities.

African horse sickness is a deadly viral disease that mainly attacks horses and donkeys, gnats being the carriers. The virus attacks the lungs and respiratory system quickly and can kill a horse within hours.

PHOTO: Bangkok Post

SOURCE: Bangkok Post

A woman with a high fever spat on health officials who tried to offer her a face mask on a train bound for the northern province of Khon Kaen. The incident immediately sparked Covid-19 coronavirus fears and panic amongst the train’s other passengers. The 53 year old woman, whose name was withheld, boarded the train on the Kaeng Khoi-Khon Kaen route yesterday morning. She was not wearing a face mask, which already created fear among train passengers.

The chief of the Non Sung railway station was alerted at 8:50am. He called 3 staff from Non Sung Hospital, who arrived in full personal protective suits. They entered the carriage where the woman was sitting. One handed her a face mask and told her to go to a virus screening checkpoint at the railway station. She refused and shouted at them, then spat at them and tore the clothing of one of them.

This prompted the health workers to handcuff her and forcibly carry her out of the carriage for a temperature check. Her temperature was 37.9℃ and she was taken to hospital for further examination. The station chief then called a rescue team to disinfect the station all train carriages. It took about an hour before the train was able to resume its journey.

The hospital later told railway officials that the woman had a history of mental illness and had sought treatment in the past at a psychiatric hospital. She was placed in quarantine for 14 days as part of measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

To the relief of all, her test results were negative and was she was taken back to her home in Khon Kaen by relatives today.

SOURCES: Chiang Rai Times | Bangkok Post

18 teenagers have been jailed for violating the Emergency Decree by holding a party and abusing drugs in Ayutthaya, north of Bangkok. Yesterday prosecutors indicted the teenagers for breaching the decree, taking part in a mass gathering and drug use.

The teens were arrested on Monday after officials got a tip off from local residents. Homeowners reported illegal drugs were being taken at a party held at a raft house on the Chao Phraya River. Authorities seized marijuana, ketamine, ecstasy pills and drug paraphernalia from the teens in the house.

The court sentenced two defendants to a month in jail for defying the Emergency Decree. The remainder got four month jail terms for violating the decree and drug abuse.

Meanwhile, police in in the northern Udon Thani province, near the Laos border, arrested 12 men yesterday for gathering and drinking in breach of thedecree on Thursday. Local officials went to a house Ban Na Sai after hearing about a group of men drinking together. Police say they were disturbing the neighbours by playing loud music from a car.

The men told officers that they were debt collectors but had been laid off due to the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak. They said they were having a birthday party for a friend before they returned to their homes in Nakhon Ratchasima, Chaiyaphum, and Uthai Thani provinces .

The men at first resisted arrest, saying they only partied in the house, and didn’t go out anywhere else. This prompted police to call for reinforcements to arrest them. They’ve now been charged with defying the emergency decree and face a jail term and/or a fine of no more than 40,000 baht each.

Source: Chiang Rai Times | Bangkok Post