A doctor at a Chiang Rai hospital pulled a cattle leech from the throat of a Lao boy on Tuesday.
A Lao hospital that lacked the equipment to examine the boy, who had a sore throat and was coughing up blood, referred him to the Chiang Rai Prachanukroah Hospital.
A medical team at Chiang Rai checked the boy’s throat with an endoscope and discovered the leech.
The doctor used a medical tool to remove the leech and then allowed the boy to go home to recuperate.
His uncle, Seub Wongwijit, 32, said the boy had helped his parents catch crabs and oysters in a creek near their Lao village a month ago.
When the boy returned home, he developed an itchy throat. Later on, he coughed up blood, so his parents took him to a hospital in Laos’ Bokeo province. The hospital lacked equipment to diagnose the condition, so it sent the boy to Chiang Rai.
