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India - Vet dies of suspected bird flu
Prafulla Marpakwar
[ Saturday, April 22, 2006 01:54:33 am TIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
MUMBAI: A day after the death of an Akola-based 50-year-old veterinary surgeon, the public health department has sent the samples of his organs to the Pune-based National Institute of Virology (NIV) to determine if he was suffering from bird flu.
Following the outbreak of avian influenza (H5N1) in several areas of Maharashtra, the vet was deployed at Jalgaon to supervise the massive culling operations on March 29. He was relieved on April 4 and subsequently resumed duty in Akola. However, a week later, he complained of high fever and giddiness.
Since he had worked in the bird flu-affected areas of northern Maharashtra, he was immediately admitted to the intensive care unit of the civil hospital, where he succumbed to his illness on Wednesday.
His death has created panic in the entire veterinary fraternity, prompting many veterinary officers to abandon duty in the bird flu-affected areas.
Public health secretary Vijay Satbir Singh confirmed that since doubts were raised about the cause of death, samples of the vet?s lung tissue had been sent to the NIV.
"We are awaiting the report from the NIV. We are monitoring the investigations.
But in my opinion, it wasn?t a case of bird flu, since he had absolutely no symptoms of bird flu," Singh told TOI.
Prafulla Marpakwar
[ Saturday, April 22, 2006 01:54:33 am TIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
MUMBAI: A day after the death of an Akola-based 50-year-old veterinary surgeon, the public health department has sent the samples of his organs to the Pune-based National Institute of Virology (NIV) to determine if he was suffering from bird flu.
Following the outbreak of avian influenza (H5N1) in several areas of Maharashtra, the vet was deployed at Jalgaon to supervise the massive culling operations on March 29. He was relieved on April 4 and subsequently resumed duty in Akola. However, a week later, he complained of high fever and giddiness.
Since he had worked in the bird flu-affected areas of northern Maharashtra, he was immediately admitted to the intensive care unit of the civil hospital, where he succumbed to his illness on Wednesday.
His death has created panic in the entire veterinary fraternity, prompting many veterinary officers to abandon duty in the bird flu-affected areas.
Public health secretary Vijay Satbir Singh confirmed that since doubts were raised about the cause of death, samples of the vet?s lung tissue had been sent to the NIV.
"We are awaiting the report from the NIV. We are monitoring the investigations.
But in my opinion, it wasn?t a case of bird flu, since he had absolutely no symptoms of bird flu," Singh told TOI.
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