Bird flu found in Indonesian man

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4098058.stm

 

Bird flu found in Indonesian man

 

Indonesia has confirmed its first case of bird flu in humans.

 

A farm worker in South Sulawesi has tested positive for the H5N1 strain

of the virus, although he has shown no outward symptoms of the disease.

 

In the past 18 months at least 53 people across Asia are known to have

died of bird flu - all of them in Cambodia, Vietnam or Thailand.

 

Millions of chickens and ducks have been slaughtered in an effort to

control the spread of the disease.

 

Indonesia's agriculture ministry has reported sporadic H5N1 outbreaks in

birds in various parts of the country, including Sulawesi, in the first

three months of this year.

 

Just last month the authorities confirmed the first case of the virus in

pigs.

 

Health officials say the farm worker's case came to light during routine

testing of people who had worked with infected poultry.

 

Blood samples from 79 farm workers were sent to Hong Kong for

examination in March.

 

H5N1 BIRD FLU VIRUS

Principally an avian disease, first seen in humans in Hong Kong, 1997

Almost all human cases thought to be contracted from birds

Isolated cases of human-to-human transmission in Hong Kong and Vietnam,

but none confirmed

 

The worker in question was found to have produced antibodies, indicating

that he had been exposed to the bird flu virus. A second test confirmed

this.

 

It is unclear exactly when he contracted the virus, but due to the low

level of antibodies found in his blood, the infection is unlikely to

have been recent.

 

Health authorities are now testing other people who could have been

exposed to the disease, such as poultry workers and veterinarians.

 

" We have to raise our guard once again, " said Hariadi Wibisono, the head

of the department responsible for animal diseases.

 

" There is a possibility we will find more cases, but we hope that this

does not transpire, " he told the Associated Press.

 

So far humans have only contracted bird flu after coming into contact

with infected animals.

 

But the real fear is that the virus might develop into a form which can

be transmitted from person to person, spreading rapidly and raising the

possibility of a global pandemic.

 

 

 

--

Dave Neale

UK Director

Animals Asia Foundation

 

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