Cholera alert in Tak after breakout across Myanmar border

Myanmar people cross the Moei River to Thailand's Tak province by boat in 2016. (File photo)
In 2016, people from Myanmar travel by boat from Myanmar’s Tak state to Thailand’s Moei River. ( File photo )

In a bid to stop cholera from spreading to the nearby city of Shwe Kokko in Myanmar, the Public Health Ministry has established an emergency operations center ( EOC ) in Tak province. There have been two cases reported in Tak thus much.

Dr Opas Karnkawinpong, permanent director for open heath, said on Sunday that the public health department of Tak then functioned as the EOC and Dr Supachok Wechaphanphesat, acting wellness inspector-general, was its chief.

The EOC was watching for probable cholera cases in border areas, factories and refugee tents, he said.

He added that the center was even monitoring the quality of drinking water, providing health advice to people and migrants, overseeing foods fairs and suppliers, and setting up medical supplies, including rapid test kits to treat cholera, as well.

Because they are located directly reverse Shwe Kokko and have a large number of companies and migrant populations, the Tak districts of Mae Ramat and Mae Sot are in particular at risk. People may have parties and eat together over the New Year’s breaks, according to Dr. Opas.

According to the everlasting director for heath, there have been about 200 cholera cases in Shwe Kokko, with two fatalities. In Mae Sot city, there have been two cholera situations.

According to reports, the two circumstances were taken to Mae Sot Hospital. Authorities assumed a pregnant woman from Myanmar who had dysentery gave birth on the Thai side of the border, and that a relative from her country who lived in Tak visited her and contracted the disease.

Soldiers were conducting border patrols in the Mae Ramat and Mae Sot districts to temporarily thwart illegal immigration through normal border crossings. Tak specialists provided medical supplies to their Shwe Kokko counterparts in exchange for requests to help with disease control it.

The majority of cholera cases in Shwe Kokko were reported by Thai residents living close to the border to be caused by Taiwanese companies and their Myanmar employees.

A gentleman and a woman from Myanmar who frequently cross the border to operate in Tak were the victims of cholera, according to Dr. Supachok, the captain of the EOC in Tak. Both had gentle signs, and one of them was discharged from the hospital.

He advised people to maintain health and consume well-cooked food to keep themselves from cholera.