Guest guest Posted January 12, 2004 Report Share Posted January 12, 2004 AVIAN INFLUENZA, HUMAN - VIETNAM: REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ********************************************************* A ProMED-mail post <http://www.promedmail.org> ProMED-mail is a program of the International Society for Infectious Diseases <http://www.isid.org> Mon,12 Jan 2004 S M Apatow <s.m.apatow Source: NewsVOACOM, 12 Jan 2004 [edited] <http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=5D4BA819-4F6C-4A2B-9F83197352A6735F Bird flu spreading in Asia -------------------------- HONG KONG: The World Health Organization says an outbreak of bird flu among chickens in Vietnam may be linked to the deaths of 10 people. The bird flu has also sickened and killed thousands of chickens in South Korea and Japan. The United Nation's health agency said on Monday that 9 children and one adult admitted to hospital with an influenza-like illness in Vietnam since last October have died. 2 others have been admitted to hospital with similar symptoms. WHO is now investigating a possible link between the deaths and the bird flu, which has led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of chickens in Vietnam, South Korea, and Japan. " The first hospital admission goes back to 28 Oct 2003; the most recent admission was 5 Jan 2004, " said Peter Cordingly, WHO's regional spokesman. " Samples from some of the people who have fallen ill in the Hanoi region have been sent overseas for examination. " A WHO official in Vietnam says the small number of patients over 3 months means the disease is not spreading rapidly. So far, less than 100 000 chickens have been culled in Vietnam but WHO estimates that roughly 600 000 chickens have shown signs of the bird flu. Mr Cordingly says the bird flu strain found in Vietnam and South Korea is similar to the H5N1 virus, which jumped from chickens to infect and kill 6 people in Hong Kong in 1997. That outbreak was the first time a bird flu virus is known to have jumped directly from birds to humans. To contain the deadly disease, Hong Kong slaughtered all live poultry in the city, winning praise from international health experts for possibly averting a wider outbreak. Last year, Hong Kong reported 2 more imported bird flu cases in humans. Both patients died. Doctors say the 2 had visited chicken farms in China. In the past several weeks, more than a million chickens and ducks in South Korea either died from the flu or were slaughtered to contain the spread of the disease. Japan confirmed on Monday that around 6000 chickens in the country's south have died of flu. Mr Cordingly says WHO epidemiologists are investigating if migratory birds are spreading bird flu to different countries. [byline: Katherine Maria] -- ProMED-mail <promed -- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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