Thai woman diagnosed with bird flu

A woman in a northern suburb of the Thai capital Bangkok has been diagnosed with bird flu, Deputy Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said Monday. The 50-year-old woman, who is in stable condition in Bangkok's Siriraj hospital, is the country's 20th human victim of the disease since 2003, and the third this year. Thirteen of those infected by the virus died.

The woman fell ill a day after helping clean excrement from a chicken coop, said Thawat Suntarajarn, director-general of Thailand's Department of Communicable Disease Control, the AP says.

Thailand's first human cases this year were reported in October. One was a 48-year-old man who died after handling his neighbors' sick chickens, and the other was his 7-year-old son, who also contracted the disease after handling the birds.

T.E.