BANGKOK, Oct. 25 (Xinhuanet) -- A hospital of western province of Kanchanaburi on Tuesday quarantined three suspected bird flu patients, local media reported.

    They are all from the same district where the country's 13th avian influenza victim contracted the disease.

    "The three patients have fevers, coughs and flu symptoms but they initially tested negative for the H5N1 virus but we're now awaiting more lab results from the Medical Science Department in Bangkok," local news paper The Nation online news quoted Dr Sayan Booranawanit, director of the Phahol Polphayuhasena Hospital in Kanchanaburi as saying.

    All three patients, including two girls aged four and nine and one 48-year-old woman, have been given Tamiflu, the only known remedy for H5N1.

    The Health Ministry has instructed hospitals nationwide to immediately quarantine patients showing bird flu symptoms in "red zones", and to provide them with Tamiflu even if they have not yet tested positive for avian influenza, said Sayan.

    Avian influenza has spread to more than half of Thailand, with 39 provinces reporting confirmed or suspected cases of fresh bird-flu infections. Enditem