Sally Furniss
Well-known member
Re: Indonesia - Human cases, July & August +
Re: Indonesia - Human cases, July & August +
More suspected bird flu cases in Bali
http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/More-suspected-bird-flu-cases-in-Bali/2007/08/21/1187462238146.html
Health authorities suspect two more people may have contracted a potentially deadly strain of bird flu on the Indonesian resort island of Bali.
A 58-year-old man from Jembrana district and a 28-year-old woman from Tabanan are undergoing treatment in Bali's Sanglah Hospital, Bali Health Agency chief Dr Dewa Ketut Oka says.
The suspected cases come a week after Indonesia confirmed its first human bird flu death in Bali. The 29-year-old female victim died on August 12.
Her five-year-old daughter died on August 3 after suffering flu-like symptoms, but her body was cremated before samples were taken for testing.
There have been 83 confirmed deaths from bird flu in Indonesia, the country hardest hit by the virus in the world.
Oka said the provincial health agency had sent samples to Jakarta for testing to determine whether the man and woman had contracted the H5N1 virus.
Two different labs in Jakarta must return positive test results before a case is considered to be confirmed as H5N1.
"They are still (bird flu) suspects. We already sent the samples to the health ministry in Jakarta," Oka told AAP.
"They are both still undergoing treatment."
He said the man, who was a garbage worker, had contact with dead chickens through his job.
"But the woman from Tabanan never had any contact with dead chickens," he said.
"The man from Jembrana is getting better. But the woman from Tabanan - we are still treating, but she is stable."
H5N1 is commonly caught by humans who have contact with infected chickens.
Meanwhile, Indonesia has sent bird flu samples to the World Health Organisation as part of efforts to lure tourists back to Bali.
Indonesia recently stopped sharing samples with international scientists searching for mutations, saying it wanted assurances that any vaccines developed from its H5N1 virus strain would not be prohibitively expensive.
Health ministry spokeswoman Lily Sulistyowati on Monday said an exception had been made for the 29-year-old woman who died on August 12.
Samples were sent to the WHO-affiliated Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta last Thursday to prove to the world "that the virus has not mutated in any way ... and that Bali is still safe to visit," she said.
Experts fear the virus will mutate into a form that spreads easily among humans, potentially sparking a pandemic. Currently, most human cases are linked to contact with infected birds.
Re: Indonesia - Human cases, July & August +
More suspected bird flu cases in Bali
http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/More-suspected-bird-flu-cases-in-Bali/2007/08/21/1187462238146.html
Health authorities suspect two more people may have contracted a potentially deadly strain of bird flu on the Indonesian resort island of Bali.
A 58-year-old man from Jembrana district and a 28-year-old woman from Tabanan are undergoing treatment in Bali's Sanglah Hospital, Bali Health Agency chief Dr Dewa Ketut Oka says.
The suspected cases come a week after Indonesia confirmed its first human bird flu death in Bali. The 29-year-old female victim died on August 12.
Her five-year-old daughter died on August 3 after suffering flu-like symptoms, but her body was cremated before samples were taken for testing.
There have been 83 confirmed deaths from bird flu in Indonesia, the country hardest hit by the virus in the world.
Oka said the provincial health agency had sent samples to Jakarta for testing to determine whether the man and woman had contracted the H5N1 virus.
Two different labs in Jakarta must return positive test results before a case is considered to be confirmed as H5N1.
"They are still (bird flu) suspects. We already sent the samples to the health ministry in Jakarta," Oka told AAP.
"They are both still undergoing treatment."
He said the man, who was a garbage worker, had contact with dead chickens through his job.
"But the woman from Tabanan never had any contact with dead chickens," he said.
"The man from Jembrana is getting better. But the woman from Tabanan - we are still treating, but she is stable."
H5N1 is commonly caught by humans who have contact with infected chickens.
Meanwhile, Indonesia has sent bird flu samples to the World Health Organisation as part of efforts to lure tourists back to Bali.
Indonesia recently stopped sharing samples with international scientists searching for mutations, saying it wanted assurances that any vaccines developed from its H5N1 virus strain would not be prohibitively expensive.
Health ministry spokeswoman Lily Sulistyowati on Monday said an exception had been made for the 29-year-old woman who died on August 12.
Samples were sent to the WHO-affiliated Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta last Thursday to prove to the world "that the virus has not mutated in any way ... and that Bali is still safe to visit," she said.
Experts fear the virus will mutate into a form that spreads easily among humans, potentially sparking a pandemic. Currently, most human cases are linked to contact with infected birds.
