Thai border on alert on Cambodian child death

BANGKOK: Quarantine experts are taking stern measures against Cambodian immigrants following the death of a Cambodian child from a deadly strain of hand, foot and mouth disease, Thai News Agency (TNA) reported.

The lethal ‘Entero-virus Type 71’ strain has been confirmed in Cambodia’s Battambang Province – about 70 kilometres from the Thai-Cambodian border -- where the child has reportedly died. Cambodian officials say they are still trying to verify the case.

Meanwhile, thousands of Cambodian families are crossing into Thailand through the Thai border district of Aranyaprathet on fears that their children will catch the disease.

Thai officials say so far, two Cambodian children aged two and three years, accompanied by their parents, have been refused entry to Thailand as both had high fever. -- BERNAMA