Bird flu claims another Indonesian
September 28, 2006 by Grace Ibay
Filed under Diseases & Conditions
Another Indonesian family is suffering today with the death of a 20-year old man Tuesday from confirmed bird flu. His older brother died last Sunday but it could not be confirmed if he was infected since no samples were taken, and a younger sister, a 15-year old, is also being treated at the same hospital in Hasan Sadikin.
The brothers had brought a dead chicken into their home to feed their dog, but the girl had no contact with the chicken. Initially, Indonesian officials thought there might be a cluster case in this family with H5N1 being transmitted from the sick brothers to the sister. Fortunately, initial H5N1 tests on the girl turned out negative and health officials said she’s only suffering from the common flu.
Relatives of the three sibling are also being tested for the presence of the avian flu virus. Fears of human-to-human transmission have been heightened since a family cluster was identified in May. The H5N1 is lethal to birds and infects humans who come into close contact with infected birds but experts are closely monitoring each case because there is concern that H5N1 could mutate into easily-transmissible form in humans and cause a pandemic.
As of today, the World Health Organiztion reports 251 H5N1-infected persons and 149 of those have died since 2003. Indonesia has the highest fatality at 52. This year alone, there are 70 fatalities caused by the bird flu.
A 59-year old Thai who died August 10 is also being confirmed as having the bird flu, taking the country’s toll to 17 since 2003. The man was a cock breeder from Nong Bua Lamphu province. According to the Herald Tribune, he was treating his sick fighting cocks with herbs and did not tell his doctor that his chickens have died for fear that they would take away all his other birds. His wife only confessed to this after he got sick.
[Source: Washington Post; International Herald Tribune]
Tags: avian flu, bird flu monitoring, epidemic, H5N1, Indonesia, pandemic flu, poultry, seasonal flu, World Health Organization
