Chiang Mai deaths prompt action

Thailand’s Department of Disease Control has released its report into the deaths of five tourists and a local guide that occurred in January and February this year, but the findings show that while exposure to pesticides probably killed the women, the exact cause of the deaths may never be known. Following an initially sluggish response to the deaths by Thai health authorities, international teams from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization joined an exhaustive effort to trace the cause of the deaths. “Despite these efforts,” says the final report, “and as difficult as it may be to accept, ultimately the precise causes of the deaths and illnesses cannot be definitively identified or confirmed.” It was noted in the report that problems arose due to the fact that not enough blood and tissue samples were taken in the preliminary stages of the investigation, and where they were taken in time, they were stored and transported incorrectly, as well as being delivered too late to be of viable use. Despite the inconclusive findings, the Thai government has said it plans to implement a series of recommendations that would protect tourists, including restrictions on the use of chemicals and pesticides, improved monitoring of ill tourists, higher food handling standards, and the routine provision of health advice to travellers.
The report declined to give details of the specific chemical or pesticide thought to have caused the deaths, although it has been suggested that it may have been a chemical used to kill bed bugs on hotel mattresses. Events began on 8 January this year, when a 33-year-old American woman and her Canadian friend developed severe vomiting, and while the Canadian recovered, the American woman died from heart damage caused by a chemical or biotoxin. On 19 January, a French woman died, although this is thought to be as a result of an existing viral infection that caused inflammation of the heart muscles. On 3 February, three female travellers from New Zealand checked in at the Downtown Inn in Chiang Mai; all three developed severe vomiting overnight and were hospitalised. Tests performed at the time revealed abnormally high levels of acid in their blood; two suffered heart damage and one woman died. The same morning, a 47-year-old Thai tour guide was found dead in a room adjoining that of the three tourists. Finally prompting the authorities into action, on 19 February, a British couple in their seventies were found dead in the Downtown Inn.