Re: INDONESIA - Garut Cluster
Re: INDONESIA - Garut Cluster
Suspected Indonesian bird flu victim dies, three others hospitalised <!-- END HEADLINE --><!-- BEGIN STORY BODY -->54 minutes ago
An Indonesian woman suspected of being infected with bird flu has died, while another three from the same West Java district were hospitalised on suspicion of contracting the deadly virus.
The woman, 35, who died Thursday night after displaying symptoms of the H5N1 virus came from Cikelet, the same district as Indonesia's latest bird flu fatality, health officials said.
"Euis Lina died Thursday night," Nurdin, a scientist from the Bird Flu Information Centre told AFP on Friday.
Three other people -- five-year-old Isma, six-year-old girl called Santi, and a 35-year-old woman called Esih -- also from Cikelet, were hospitalised Thursday evening as the health ministry launched an investigation into whether human-to-human transmission of the virus may have occurred.
"They are suspected of being infected with bird flu," said Nurdin, adding that they were being treated in isolation units in the Hasan Sadikin Hospital, in Bandung, provincial capital of West Java.
The health ministry and the World Health Organisation (WHO) were dispatched Thursday to investigate the remote area for the possibility of a cluster case, after a nine-year-old girl from the district was confirmed as the country's 45th bird flu fatality.
Cluster cases heighten the chance of the virus mutating to become easily transmissible between humans. Scientists fear this could spark a global pandemic with the potential to kill millions.
However it was not clear whether any one of other four suspected bird flu cases had any contact with the nine-year-old girl, who died earlier this week, or with 17-year-old Umar Aup, also from Cikelet, who tested positive for the virus and is still alive, said Nurdin.
All six came from the subdistrict, but lived in different villages, said Nurdin.
Aup's 20-year-old cousin Misbah, another suspected bird flu case who died earlier this month, was buried before tests could be carried out.
Indonesia has the world's highest rate of human avian influenza fatalities. The human death toll from bird flu in Indonesia has been steadily rising since its first reported case in July last year. The H5N1 virus has been found in 28 of Indonesia's 33 provinces amid criticism that it has not done enough to curb the virus' spread.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060818/hl_afp/healthfluindonesia_060818105321&printer=1
Re: INDONESIA - Garut Cluster
Suspected Indonesian bird flu victim dies, three others hospitalised <!-- END HEADLINE --><!-- BEGIN STORY BODY -->54 minutes ago
An Indonesian woman suspected of being infected with bird flu has died, while another three from the same West Java district were hospitalised on suspicion of contracting the deadly virus.
The woman, 35, who died Thursday night after displaying symptoms of the H5N1 virus came from Cikelet, the same district as Indonesia's latest bird flu fatality, health officials said.
"Euis Lina died Thursday night," Nurdin, a scientist from the Bird Flu Information Centre told AFP on Friday.
Three other people -- five-year-old Isma, six-year-old girl called Santi, and a 35-year-old woman called Esih -- also from Cikelet, were hospitalised Thursday evening as the health ministry launched an investigation into whether human-to-human transmission of the virus may have occurred.
"They are suspected of being infected with bird flu," said Nurdin, adding that they were being treated in isolation units in the Hasan Sadikin Hospital, in Bandung, provincial capital of West Java.
The health ministry and the World Health Organisation (WHO) were dispatched Thursday to investigate the remote area for the possibility of a cluster case, after a nine-year-old girl from the district was confirmed as the country's 45th bird flu fatality.
Cluster cases heighten the chance of the virus mutating to become easily transmissible between humans. Scientists fear this could spark a global pandemic with the potential to kill millions.
However it was not clear whether any one of other four suspected bird flu cases had any contact with the nine-year-old girl, who died earlier this week, or with 17-year-old Umar Aup, also from Cikelet, who tested positive for the virus and is still alive, said Nurdin.
All six came from the subdistrict, but lived in different villages, said Nurdin.
Aup's 20-year-old cousin Misbah, another suspected bird flu case who died earlier this month, was buried before tests could be carried out.
Indonesia has the world's highest rate of human avian influenza fatalities. The human death toll from bird flu in Indonesia has been steadily rising since its first reported case in July last year. The H5N1 virus has been found in 28 of Indonesia's 33 provinces amid criticism that it has not done enough to curb the virus' spread.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060818/hl_afp/healthfluindonesia_060818105321&printer=1
]