MSNBC Bird flu death toll rises to 12 in Asia

[Guest guest]

Bird flu death toll rises to 12 in Asia

Bird flu has now killed 12 people in Asia and millions of chickens

have been destroyed, as the World Health Organization warned Monday

that the outbreak is " far from being under control. " Meanwhile, a

German tropical institute is examining two women for possible bird

flu infection, authorities said Monday.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4135120/

 

Bird flu death toll rises to 12 in Asia

Two women in Germany checked for possible infection

 

Crack / Reuters

An Indonesian veterinarian checks chicken blood samples at a poultry

farm in Cibinong, West Java.

 

MSNBC staff and news service reports

Updated: 5:00 p.m. ET Feb. 02, 2004

 

Bird flu has now killed 12 people in Asia and millions of chickens

have been destroyed, as the World Health Organization warned Monday

that the outbreak is " far from being under control. " Meanwhile, a

German tropical institute is examining two women for possible bird

flu infection, authorities said, although initial tests did not

confirm presence of the virus.

 

A teenage boy in Vietnam and a woman in Thailand became the latest

victims of the deadly virus sweeping Asia as world health authorities

sought to confirm the first possible case of human-to-human

transmission of the virus.

 

The outbreak is " far from being under control, " said He Changchui of

the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. " It remains a serious

public health and animal threat, particularly in China, Thailand and

Vietnam. "

 

The latest victims were a teenage boy in Vietnam and a 58-year-old

woman in Thailand who raised chickens. Those countries are the only

ones where humans have died from this strain of avian influenza.

 

Passing between humans?

The World Health Organization was investigating whether two

Vietnamese sisters who died from the disease last month may have

caught the disease through contact with their brother. If so, that

would be the first human-to-human transmission in this outbreak.

 

The WHO said there was no evidence yet of a new strain that can

easily be passed among people.

 

Investigators have failed to trace the sisters' infection to a

specific event, such as contact with sick poultry, or an

environmental source. Neither human-to-human transmission nor direct

contact with sick poultry can be ruled out, WHO says.

 

Health officials may never be able to confirm what happened, partly

because the brother's remains already have been cremated.

 

" The situation is always going to have a question mark hanging over

it, " WHO spokesman Bob Dietz said in Hanoi, Vietnam.

 

Bird flu has struck poultry in at least 10 Asian countries, but

infections in people have been reported only in Thailand and Vietnam.

 

Suspected cases in Germany

A German tropical institute is examining two women for possible bird

flu infection, authorities said Monday. Initial tests have not

confirmed the presence of the virus.

 

The Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine in the northern

port city of Hamburg said in a statement:

 

" The clinical tests have so far not confirmed the suspicion of bird

flu. The result of the molecular tests on the influenza A virus are

expected in the early evening. "

 

" The patient will initially stay for further observation in the

tropical institute's clinic. "

 

It said the women had been brought in for examination on Monday

morning, one suffering from possible bird flu symptoms, the other a

companion who had contact with her.

 

She had returned from a trip to Thailand on Saturday. " After her

return she suffered from unspecified general symptoms of sickness,

dizziness and a fever, " the institute said.

 

It added that the doctors treating her had described her general

condition as " good. " The female companion of the woman was also

undergoing tests.

 

Five new cases in China

China announced five new suspected poultry cases Monday, including

one in its remote northwestern region of Xinjiang - underlining the

potentially broad range of the disease. Xinjiang is more than 1,000

miles from the southern region where China's first case was confirmed

last week.

 

With the new report, China now has three confirmed cases and eight

suspected cases.

 

 

The WHO has urged China to take swifter action against bird flu,

warning that its chances to contain the disease may be dwindling.

Beijing has closed poultry markets and processing factories in some

affected areas.

 

Limited human-to-human transmission of the virus is not the real

danger. Instead, experts fear the virus could mutate into a form that

passes easily between people.

 

Bird flu spread between humans in a 1997 outbreak in Hong Kong that

killed six people. Although it passed from infected people to health

workers, it soon lost its punch and failed to transmit further.

 

Symptoms were very mild or nonexistent in those who caught it from

patients rather than birds.

 

COMPLETE COVERAGE

* More news on the outbreak in Asia

The WHO was encouraged by tests showing that the bird flu has been in

Asia since at least April without causing a large-scale human

infection.

 

Authorities are also battling the disease in Cambodia, Indonesia,

Japan, Laos, Pakistan, South Korea, Taiwan. The strain found in

Taiwan and Pakistan is different from the influenza hitting the other

countries and is not considered a serious threat to humans.

 

The FAO has appealed for international aid for Asian farmers,

particularly in Vietnam, saying they may otherwise resist

slaughtering their flocks, a crucial measure in stamping out the

disease and preventing its jump to humans.

 

Buying time

Health experts say prescription flu drugs could provide lifesaving

early protection against the virus if it disastrously mutates into a

worldwide pandemic, but they warn that supplies will quickly run out

unless governments stockpile the medicines.

 

Early talks are going on between the U.S. government and one drug

maker about providing a large quantity for use in a pandemic, but at

best the medicine is still months away.

 

If enough was available, the drugs could help buy time until a

vaccine is developed to stop the flu's spread.

 

The flu drugs could shorten illness and prevent lethal complications

for flu victims - as well as keep healthy people from catching it,

especially health care workers.

 

Doctors say only one brand, Tamiflu, is practical for large-scale

stockpiling, but so far no government has bought the big amounts

needed for a pandemic. For now, worldwide supplies are skimpy,

because the drugs are not widely used to treat ordinary flu.

 

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report

--