Sick birds and Avian flu in Vietnam

[Guest guest]

Source: Canadian Press online, Associated Press report, Thu 30 Dec

2004 [edited]

<http://www.canada.com/health/story.html?id=c176c207-f13e-45d8-aa12-8230

ae473786>

 

 

Viet Nam: 29th Confirmed Human Case of Avian Influenza Virus Infection

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A 16-year-old girl from southern Viet Nam has become infected with

the avian influenza A (H5N1) virus that killed 32 people earlier in

2004 and devastated the poultry industry across Asia, a doctor said

on Thu 30 Dec 2004. The girl, from the southern Mekong Delta province

of Dong Thap, was in critical condition and on a respirator at the

Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Ho Chi Minh City, hospital deputy

director Dr. Tran Tinh Hien said.

 

Viet Nam has suffered recurring outbreaks of the disease in chicken

farms -- most recently in southern provinces -- since a big wave of

infections sickened poultry across much of Asia earlier in 2004. The

virus has jumped to people in Viet Nam, where it killed 20, and

Thailand, where it killed 12.

 

The girl from Dong Thap is Vietnam's 29th person confirmed with the

disease [however, see below - Mod.CP]. " She is still in critical

condition and is being hooked to a respirator, " Hien said. The girl

had slaughtered a chicken she brought with her from Dong Thap

province to southern Tay Ninh province, where she was visiting her

uncle. She developed the disease's typical symptoms of high fever,

coughing and breathing difficulties on 19 Dec 2004, said Huynh Tan

Kiet of the Tay Ninh provincial Preventive Medicine Centre. Most

human cases of bird flu have been traced to direct contact with sick

birds. The virus is not believed to have mutated into a form that can

easily be passed among people.

 

The girl was admitted to a clinic in Tay Ninh province late last

week, before being transferred to the hospital in Ho Chi Minh City on

26 Dec 2004, Kiet said. None of her uncle's 8 family members have

developed avian influenza symptoms, and the man's house has been

disinfected, he said. Heath officials were still investigating how

the girl contracted the disease.

 

Vietnam's last previous human case of bird flu was a 14-month-old boy

who died in September 2004 in Hanoi. During the outbreaks earlier in

the year, more than 100 million chickens and ducks were culled or

died in 10 countries and territories in Asia, including more than 40

million in Vietnam. Animal health officials have recently warned

that seasonably cool temperatures and the increased transportation of

poultry between now and the Lunar New Year holiday in early February

2005 create conditions favouring the spread of the virus. Prime

Minister Phan Van Khai this week ordered a ban on transportation of

sick poultry from affected areas, and heavy penalties for those who

sell sick birds at markets.

 

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