Special report: Global fight against bird flu

    BANGKOK, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Lab tests have confirmed that 222 people nationwide earlier suspected of contracting bird flu were free of the deadly virus, a spokesman of Thailand's Public Health Ministry said Sunday.

    The spokesman, Supan Srithamma said lab tests were conducted on 268 patients from 42 provinces with suspected bird flu symptoms between Jan. 1 to 27 and that the results of lab tests have confirmed that 222 of them only suffered from ordinary cough and influenza, not bird flu disease, according to Thai News Agency.

    Results of lab tests on the remaining 46 persons are yet to come out, though, said Supan.

    Although no new bird flu cases have been confirmed since the beginning of this month, Supan urged people to take precautions.

    Earlier this month Thailand successively announced two resurfacing outbreaks of the H5N1 bird flu virus found among dead poultry respectively in two provinces, after the country's six-month clearance from the disease. No human cases have been confirmed this year.

    17 persons out of the 25 reported human cases of contracting bird flu have died in Thailand since it was hit by the pandemic early 2004.