Chinese Farmer Recovering But Indonesian Boy Dies From Bird Flu

Featured Article
Main Category: Bird Flu / Avian Flu
Also Included In: Veterinary;  Public Health
Article Date: 11 Jan 2007 - 3:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   opinions  

A 37 year old Chinese farmer is recovering but sadly, a 14 year old Indonesian boy died yesterday from contracting the H5N1 strain of bird flu.

Health authorities in China say the farmer who contracted the H5N1 strain of bird flu in early December is making a full recovery. They reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) that the farmer may have kept live birds, and an investigation to discover how he became infected is still under way.

The farmer, who is from from Tunxi in the province of Anhui in Eastern China, started with symptoms on 10th December, was taken into hospital on the 17th December and was discharged on 6th January. People who came into contact with him were found to be free of symptoms and released on the 29th of December.

This is the first reported case of human H5N1 infection in China since the middle of last year. Altogether China has reported 22 laboratory-confirmed cases of people infected with the deadly strain, of which 14 have died.

The Indonesian Health Ministry reported that the 14 year old boy from West Jakarta who developed symptoms on 31st December and was admitted to hospital on 4th January, died yesterday. The WHO have received reports of deaths among birds kept in the neighbourhood where the boy lived, and that official investigations are still in progress to locate the exact source of the infection.

In the meantime a 37 year old woman from Tangerang in the Banten Province of Indonesia is critically ill in hospital. She started showing symptoms on January 1st and was taken to hospital on the 6th. The WHO reports that sick poultry is the likely source of infection. Reports in the media suggest that hospital officials said she became infected from a live chicken that she bought from a market.

Indonesia has suffered the most fatalities from the latest outbreak of the deadly H5N1 strain of avian flu. According to WHO figures, of the 76 laboratory-confirmed cases in the country, 57 have been fatal. In Viet Nam, where there have been 93 confirmed cases, 42 have been fatal.

A Korean newspaper has today reported that the Korea Center for Disease Control (KCDC) has confirmed a positive test for H5N1 in a poultry farm worker in the southwestern region of the country. They are testing 85 other workers and residents in the neighbourhood of the four farms under investigation. However, despite the positive test, the person infected has not developed symptoms. Korea was hit with avian flu in early 2004, following which 5.3 million poultry were destroyed.

According to the WHO's latest figures (10 January), the global number of laboratory-confirmed cases of H5N1 infections in humans stands at 264, and includes 157 fatalaties.

Click here for Avian Flu Watch (US).

World Health Organization (WHO) Avian Influenza.

Written by: Catharine Paddock
Writer: Medical News Today
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

• Additional
• References
• Citations