Indonesian Quake Survivors' Risk Of Bird Flu As They Shelter In Poultry Sheds

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Main Category: Bird Flu / Avian Flu
Also Included In: Aid / Disasters
Article Date: 04 Jun 2006 - 6:00 PDT

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Merlin, a UK based medical aid charity, said Indonesian quake survivors, many of whom are sheltering in poultry sheds, are at increased risk of becoming infected with the H5N1 bird flu virus strain. In the Bantul district, Central Java, poultry sheds were among the few structures left standing - Merlin employees found over 100 people sheltering in poultry sheds.

Many of the sheds still had bird droppings and had not been properly cleaned out. Merlin has called for more tents to be provided. Merlin's Medical Director in Indonesia said the unsanitary conditions in the poultry sheds also leave the survivors exposed to other infections, such as salmonella.

Each poultry shed is about 200 metres long. Merlin aid team members said some sheds were new and had not yet housed chickens. Others, on the other hand, clearly had chicken droppings lying on bamboo slats. The overcrowded, unsanitary conditions in the poultry sheds may raise the survivors' risk of catching bird flu and then spreading bird flu to each other. Bird flu can be passed on from human-to-human if there is close, continuous physical contact - however, human-to-human transmission is still rare. Two weeks ago a family of eight all became infected with bird flu in Indonesia, of which seven died. Experts say it is most likely some of the humans infected each other. They all had shared and lived in a small room.

Where clusters of humans come down with bird flu infection and human-to-human transmission is suspected, experts have noticed that blood relatives are most at risk. In the family of seven, mentioned above, only blood relatives became infected, not spouses or in laws.

Indonesia had a devastating earthquake on 27 May, which has so far taken the lives of over 6,000 people and left about 200,000 homeless. Bantul was the worst affected area. Bird flu has become established in Indonesia, 75% of the country's provinces have experienced H5N1 outbreaks. Central Java, where the earthquake took place, has also had bird flu outbreaks.

Merlin is helping clean up the poultry sheds.

During the month of may there was a human infection of bird flu in Indonesia every two days. If human infection rates continue at the same pace it won't be long before Indonesia overtakes Vietnam as the country with the highest number of human infections. Vietnam has not had a human infection for several months.

If H5N1 becomes established in a country, which seems to be the case in Indonesia, its opportunities for mutating grow significantly. The most likely way H5N1 may mutate so that it can transmit from human-to-human is if it infects a person who also has the normal human flu at that time. The bird flu virus would have the opportunity to exchange genetic information with the human flu virus and acquire the ability to become human transmissible. If H5N1 mutates, it could bring about a serious human flu pandemic.

Bird flu = Avian Flu
Flu = Influenza
H5N1 = A type of bird flu. A dangerous ones for humans and birds. Human transmissible = Something a human can pass on to another human. Normal flu is human transmissible because the infected person can easily infect another human.

Written by: Christian Nordqvist
Editor: Medical News Today
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today