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Human Bird Flu Cases May Rise as Virus Spreads in Africa, Egypt

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  • Human Bird Flu Cases May Rise as Virus Spreads in Africa, Egypt

    Human Bird Flu Cases May Rise as Virus Spreads in Africa, Egypt

    March 22 (Bloomberg) -- Human cases of bird flu, averaging three a week this year, may increase as the virus spreads in Africa and Asia. Seven suspected infections, one of them fatal, were reported in Egypt and eight are being tested in Indonesia.


    Four people were infected in Egypt and another three are suspected to have contracted the virus, Agence France-Presse said, citing Health Minister Hatem al-Gabali and ministry spokesman Abdulrahman Shahin. Samples, including from a woman who died on March 18, were sent abroad for confirmation by the World Health Organization, AFP reported.


    Eight people were tested for the lethal H5N1 avian flu virus on Indonesia's Sulawesi island after an outbreak in poultry, the Antara news agency said, citing medical officials. The disease in poultry raises the risk of human cases and creates opportunities for the virus to mutate into a pandemic form that may kill millions of people.


    ``There are a lot of outbreaks in birds around the country'' in Indonesia, Georg Petersen, the WHO's representative in Indonesia, said over the phone from Jakarta today. ``As long as we have a situation where the virus is endemic in the bird population, we will expect to see cases. Every human case is another opportunity for the development of a new virus.''
    Since 2003, H5N1 has killed at least 103 of 184 people infected, the WHO said yesterday, when it confirmed five avian- flu fatalities in Azerbaijan.
    In 2006, 40 H5N1 cases have been reported to the WHO, 27 of them fatal. Last year 25 cases, including 14 fatalities, were reported in the first 10 weeks.


    In almost all human cases, infection was caused by close contact with sick or dead birds, such as children playing with them, or adults butchering them or taking off the feathers, according to the WHO.


    Indonesian Cases


    Jakarta's Sulianti Saroso Hospital is treating four suspected avian-flu cases, said Ilham Patu, a senior doctor there. Four other patients treated last week for the virus were discharged after testing negative for H5N1, he said.


    Israel last week became the 29th country this year to report an initial outbreak of avian flu in either wild birds or fowl, bringing the total number of infected countries to 45. The virus was reported for the first time in the European Union, north and west Africa and India last month.


    ``The geographic expansion this year has been, I think, greater and worse than most of us could have expected,'' said Malik Peiris, professor of microbiology at the University of Hong Kong.


    ``It is certainly a cause for concern because the more areas where humans keep on getting challenged by this virus, the more chance there is for the virus to adapt for human transmission,'' Peiris said in a telephone interview today.


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