The Bali health authorities reported their first death from deadly H5N1 bird flu on Sunday, when two independent laboratory reports confirmed that the virus took the life of a 29 year old woman in a hospital in Denpasar, the provincial capital of the Indonesian island.
Dead chickens who had died suddenly after being ill recently were said to have been found near the dead woman’s house, according to an announcement by the Indonesia health ministry’s bird flu centre.
According to several media reports, doctors are also trying to find out if the woman’s 5 year old daughter who died recently after playing with chickens, was also infected. However, this will be very difficult because her remains were cremated before any tissue samples could be taken.
Another 2 year old girl who lived near the dead woman is also thought to be infected with the virus, but this is yet to be confirmed by laboratory tests. She is said to be recovering in hospital.
Of the nearly 200 deaths worldwide from deadly H5N1 bird flu virus, Indonesia has suffered over 40 per cent of them. Many Indonesians live in villages where families farm millions of chickens and other domestic fowl in their back yards.
The villagers tend not to burn dead chickens, they either bury them or feed them to pigs, which increases the risk of infection to other birds and humans.
So far the deadly strain of H5N1 bird flu has not spread from human to human. The only reported cases of human infection have occurred because of contact with sick or dead birds. However, many experts believe it is just a matter of time before the virus mutates into a form where it spreads from human to human and that when that happens a pandemic will occur with many millions of deaths worldwide.
The chances of the virus mutating into a human to human form go up every time it has a pool of infected birds to breed in, which is why it is important to control the spread and deal with outbreaks in birds promptly.
Apart from the obvious concern for public health and the dead woman’s family, the Bali authorities are hoping this tragic event will not affect tourism, an important driver of the island’s economy and which has only just recovered from the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in 2002 when a nightclub was blown up and in 2005 when two restaurants were bombed.
According to a Sky News report earlier today, Australian officials say they are also closely monitoring the bird flu situation in Indonesia, which is a popular holiday destination for Australians who come second only to the Japanese in terms of the number of travellers that arrive on the island every year. Bali tourism statistics for 2005 show over quarter of a million Australians holidayed on the island that year.
The Bali authorities said there is no bird flu risk to tourists coming to the island.
As of 25th July, the total number of laboratory confirmed cases of deadly H5N1 bird flu reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) worldwide now stands at 319 of which 192 have died (60 per cent). The numbers have been rising steadily since 2003. Last year the total number of cases was 115 with 79 deaths. So far this year the number of cases totals 56 with 34 deaths. Of these 27 cases and 23 deaths have been in Indonesia.
Written by: Catharine Paddock