China reports first human bird flu case in months

[Theresa42]

China reports first human bird flu case in months
Tue Jan 9, 2007 9:37pm ET

BEIJING (Reuters) - A 37-year-old farmer in eastern China has been confirmed to have contracted the H5N1 strain of bird flu, the country's first human case of avian influenza in months, the Health News said on Wednesday.

The country has reported a total of 22 human cases of bird flu, including 14 fatalities, since 2003.

In the latest case, a man surnamed Li developed symptoms of fever and pneumonia on December 10 and was discharged from hospital on Saturday in Tunxi in Anhui province after a full recovery, the Health News said.

The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed on Monday that he tested positive for the deadly H5N1 strain, the Health Ministry-run newspaper said.

People who have had close contact with Li were quarantined for medical observation until December 29, it added.

There have been no bird flu outbreaks in poultry in the area, the Health News said.

China last reported a human case of bird flu in July, when a farmer died of H5N1 in the northwestern region in Xinjiang.

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=healthNews&storyid=2007-01-10T023716Z_01_PEK168523_RTRUKOC_0_US-CHINA-BIRDFLU.xml

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: China reports first human bird flu case in months

location....

[Theresa42]

Re: China reports first human bird flu case in months

Google-translated from (simplified?) Chinese:

Anhui man confirmed with bird flu have recovered
Jan 10, 2007

[Large network] Anhui Provincial Health Department on January 9 briefing, Anhui diagnosed case of highly pathogenic avian flu infection.

According to Xinhua news Limoumou patients, male, aged 37, a farmer who used to bring in Anhui. December 10, 2006 incidence, clinical fever, pneumonia performance by the local active treatment. on January 6, 2007 were discharged. January 8, 2007, the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention for testing on the samples from patients. Avian influenza virus (A/H5N1) nucleic acid and serum antibody were positive.

According to the World Health Organization definition of confirmed cases of people infected with highly pathogenic avian influenza. China and the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention diagnostic standard laboratory test results. Anhui Group of bird flu prevention and control of highly pathogenic avian influenza diagnosis in patients with confirmed cases of human infection.

Epidemic, the local government has attached great importance to the health sector, the corresponding prevention and control measures and their close contact with patients under close medical observation and found no abnormal clinical manifestations, all close contacts of December 29, 2006 has been lifted in all medical observation. Local agricultural departments are not found an animal outbreak of bird flu.

The patients of the situation, the Ministry of Health has the World Health Organization, Hong Kong, Macao and some other countries briefing.

http://www.takungpao.com.hk/news/07/01/10/ZM-676523.htm

[Theresa42]

Re: China reports first human bird flu case in months

China reports farmer survived deadly strain of bird flu
Jan 10, 2007

BEIJING (AP) - A Chinese farmer contracted the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu but has recovered and been released from hospital, a government news agency reported Wednesday.

The 37-year-old farmer in the eastern province Anhui fell ill in December but is "fully recovered" and left a hospital this week, the China News Service reported, citing the Health Ministry and China's Centre for Disease Control.

People who had contact with Li were put under medical observation but showed no signs of the disease, the report said.

The report did not say whether Li worked with poultry or whether infected birds were found. Human cases of bird flu have been traced to birds but experts fear the virus could mutate into a form that can pass among people, triggering a pandemic.

The report said authorities in Anhui took disease-control measures but did not give details.

China reported its first human case of bird flu in 2005, while the virus was tearing through Vietnam and Thailand. The government disclosed last year new tests on the body of a 24-year-old soldier who died in 2003 confirmed he succumbed to the disease.

China has suffered 13 human deaths from bird flu and dozens of cases in the country's vast poultry flocks. Millions of birds have been destroyed in order to contain outbreaks on farms.

The H5N1 virus has been found in migratory birds in China.

Concern about potential outbreaks increases in the winter, when wild birds fly south.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/070109/health/health_china_bird_flu_6

[Theresa42]

Re: China reports first human bird flu case in months

So, this is the fourth officially confirmed case from Anhui ... hat-tip to LaidbackAl for the info!:

http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showpost.php?p=47937&postcount=3

...a 24-year old woman who worked as a poultry farmer in the south-eastern province of Anhui. She developed symptoms on 1 November [2005], was hospitalized with severe pneumonia on 7 November, and died on 10 November.

http://www.who.int/csr/don/2005_11_17/en/index.html

...a 35-year-old woman who worked as a farmer in the south-eastern province of Anhui. She developed symptoms on 11 November [2005], was hospitalized on 15 November, and died on 22 November.

http://www.who.int/csr/don/2005_11_24/en/index.html

...a 26-year-old female farmer from Anhui Province. She developed symptoms on 11 February [2006] following contact with diseased poultry.

http://www.who.int/csr/don/2006_02_27a/en/index.html

And, I never noticed 'til just now, another case...

...a 9-year-old girl from the eastern province of Zhejiang. She developed symptoms on 10 February [2006]. Symptom onset followed a visit to relatives in the adjacent province of Anhui.

http://www.who.int/csr/don/2006_02_27a/en/index.html

[Laidback Al]

Re: China reports first human bird flu case in months

...a 26-year-old female farmer from Anhui Province. She developed symptoms on 11 February [2006] following contact with diseased poultry.
http://www.who.int/csr/don/2006_02_27a/en/index.html

And, I never noticed 'til just now, another case...

...a 9-year-old girl from the eastern province of Zhejiang. She developed symptoms on 10 February [2006]. Symptom onset followed a visit to relatives in the adjacent province of Anhui.
http://www.who.int/csr/don/2006_02_27a/en/index.html

I have no information, but is it possible that the 9 year old girl and the 26 year old poultry farmer from Anhui are part of a cluster or perhaps exposed to the same virus source. They are both reported in the same WHO Outbreak News and have onset within 1 day of each other.

No sequence data has been published for the the 26 year old female, but I believe that (A/human/Zhejiang/16/2006(H5N1)) is the sample from the 9 year old girl.

Published samples exist for the the two Anhui cases from November 2005. (A/Anhui/1/2005) is from the 24 year old pregnant woman and (A/Anhui/2/2005) seems to be from the 35 year old female.

[Theresa42]

Re: China reports first human bird flu case in months

Human bird flu case confirmed in Anhui
Last Updated (Beijing Time): 2007-01-10 13:27

A Chinese farmer has contracted the H5N1 strain of bird flu, the country's first human case in months, leading to questions about whether the virus is circulating undetected among poultry.

The 37-year-old man surnamed Li from the eastern province of Anhui kept backyard birds, but as in other human bird flu cases in China there was no reported poultry outbreak in the area, raising questions as to how he contracted the virus.

"In China, the challenge is now to identify where this virus is hiding and how it is circulating," Henk Bekedam, the World Health Organisation's China representative, told Reuters.

The country has reported a total of 22 human cases of bird flu, including 14 fatalities, since 2003, and with the world's largest poultry population and millions of backyard birds roaming free, it is seen as a centre in the fight against the virus.

Bekedam said that as vaccination rates for birds improve in China, detecting avian influenza becomes harder and harder, offering a possible explanation for why there was no reported outbreak where Li lived.

"It's not to say that the virus is not somehow still circulating, but that the detection of that circulating virus has become far much more difficult because of the active engagement of the government in avian influenza control," he said.

Li developed symptoms of fever and pneumonia on December 10 and was discharged from hospital on Saturday in Tunxi in Anhui province after a full recovery, the Health News, the Health Ministry-run newspaper, said.

The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed on Monday that he tested positive for the deadly H5N1 strain, which scientists fear could mutate into a form that can be passed easily between people, leading to a potential pandemic.

People who have had close contact with Li were quarantined for medical observation until December 29, the Health News said, but there was no indication that others in the area had taken ill.

Bekedam said the WHO was still investigating whether any of Li's birds had been sick, adding it was possible that they carried H5N1 but did not display any symptoms.

China has in the past been criticised for a lack of transparency in its handling of health threats, but Bekedam said the WHO was informed of Li's case as soon as he tested positive and praised the fact that he was tested a second time after his first tests turned up negative.

"We think it's very encouraging that there seems to be some routine mechanisms in place to determine whether someone is suffering from avian influenza or not, and it doesn't stop after the first negative test," he said.

China last reported a human case of bird flu in July, when a farmer died of H5N1 in the northwestern region of Xinjiang. The most recent reported poultry outbreaks were in early October in the regions of Inner Mongolia and Ningxia.

Source: Reuters

http://en.ce.cn/National/Local/200701/10/t20070110_10044345.shtml

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: China reports first human bird flu case in months

snip from Reuters:

The 37-year-old Chinese man from the eastern province of Anhui kept backyard birds, but as in other human bird flu cases in China there was no reported poultry outbreak in the area, raising questions as to how he contracted the virus.

The man developed symptoms of fever and pneumonia early last month and was discharged from hospital on Saturday, the state-run Health News said.

"In China, the challenge is now to identify where this virus is hiding and how it is circulating," Henk Bekedam, the WHO's China representative, told Reuters.

China has reported 22 human cases, including 14 deaths, since 2003 and, with the world's largest poultry population and millions of backyard birds roaming free, it is seen as a centre in the fight against the virus.

Bekedam said that as vaccination rates for birds improve in China, detecting avian influenza becomes harder and harder, offering a possible explanation for why there was no reported outbreak where the farmer lived.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/SP98501.htm

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: China reports first human bird flu case in months

China confirms one new human case of bird flu
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-01-10 20:19

BEIJING -- A 37-year-old farmer in east China's Anhui province contracted the H5N1 strain of bird flu last month and has been cured, the Ministry of Health announced Wednesday.

The man called Li developed symptoms of fever and pneumonia on December 10. His serum and sputum were tested for bird flu within days of his being admitted to hospital but the first tests proved negative.

The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed on Monday that further tests carried out at the end of the month and early January tested positive for the deadly H5N1 strain, the Ministry said.

It is the first human bird flu case reported on the Chinese mainland in the last six months.

Li was discharged from hospital on January 6 in Tunxi, Anhui Province, after making a full recovery, the ministry said.

The World Health Organization said the Chinese Ministry of Health informed it shortly after the case was confirmed and praised China for its quick response to the case.

"The Chinese Ministry of Health's handling of the Anhui case has been thorough, rigorous and timely," said Joanna Brent, a WHO spokeswoman in Beijing.

She said the ministry has undertaken routine testing at both provincial and central levels, and has undertaken a second batch of tests despite the first batch being negative.

"WHO understands that the Chinese Ministry of Health placed people who had been in close contact with the patient under medical supervision prior to the case being confirmed," she said.

Local health authorities said those who had had close contact with the patient showed no signs of disease and had been released from medical observation.

Like most human H5N1 cases in China, the Anhui case was not preceded by a poultry outbreak. At this stage it is still unclear how the farmer contracted the virus.

Brent said this suggests that strategies for monitoring H5N1 in poultry need further strengthening.

"An exclusive focus on outbreaks is no longer sufficient. All countries need to implement surveillance strategies to monitor where the virus is circulating and how it is changing."

The virus has killed 14 people in China since 2003 and 21 Chinese had contracted the virus before the new case. The last case was a 62-year-old man in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, who died last July

The WHO spokeswoman said one case in six months is no cause for alarm. "However, it is possible that there will be further cases since the virus has been seasonal in the past. But there is nothing to suggest an increased threat to humans."

China's Health Ministry said relevant information has been conveyed to health agencies in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. It said that local authorities are closely monitoring the situation.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-01/10/content_780386.htm

[MHSC]

Re: China reports first human bird flu case in months

<hr style="border: 1px none ; height: 1px; background-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); width: 100%;" align="left">
Avian influenza ? situation in China


10 January 2007
The Ministry of Health in China has confirmed a case of human infection with the H5N1 avian influenza virus. The case is a 37 years old man from Tunxi in Anhui Province. He became symptomatic on 10 December 2006 and was hospitalised on 17 December 2006. The patient was discharged on 6 January and is recovering well.
Information provided to WHO indicates that he was a farmer and may have kept a number of birds in his back yard. No information on possible exposure to diseased birds as the source of his infection is presently available, but an investigation is under way. Close contacts were placed under medical observation but are all well and were released on 29th December.
Of the 22 cases confirmed to date in China, 14 have been fatal.

http://www.who.int/csr/don/2007_01_10/en/print.html

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