More from Indonesia:Woman in bird flu cluster may have had contact with sick chickens

[Susie]

Maybe something new in here....
Woman in bird flu cluster may have had contact with sick chickens

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaillgen.asp?fileid=20060526164919&irec=2

JAKARTA (Agencies): The first person infected in a cluster of bird flu cases in a family in Indonesia may have come into contact with sick or dead chickens before possibly passing the virus on to relatives, a World Health Organization official has said.

The woman grew vegetables and sold them in a market, which may have brought her into contact with infected poultry, said Steven Bjorge, a WHO epidemiologist in Jakarta. Investigators alsohaven't ruled out contamination from chicken feces that the woman used as garden fertilizer, he said.

Officials have not linked her family members to any possible exposure to the virus from birds, which has led them to believe that limited human-to-human transmission may have occurred.

Expert from Surabaya-based Airlanga University C.A. Nidom M.S., said human to human transmission of bird flu virus had occurred in Indonesia. "I am sure that such a transmission has already occurred. H3N2 and H1N1 viruses, which are transformed from H5N1, have already been found," he was quoted by Antara news agency as saying on Friday.

Nidom, a researcher with the Airlanga University's Tropical Disease Centre added that there was no clue that the death of Iwan (bird flu casualty) from Tangerang, Banten, was caused by (virus from) poultry.

Six of the seven family members who caught bird flu in North Sumatra, have died, the most recent on Monday. An eighth family member who died was buried before tests could be done, but she was considered to be among those infected with bird flu.

The deaths in the family cluster were the largest ever reported. The WHO has stressed the virus has not mutated into a version easily passed between people or shown any sign of spreading outside the family - all blood relatives who had very close contact with each other.

Bjorge said a team of international health experts and villagers is closely monitoring the area where the family lived in North Sumatra to ensure no one else experiences flu-like symptoms. (**)

 

[GaudiaRay]

Re: More from Indonesia:Woman in bird flu cluster may have had contact with sick chic

Re: More from Indonesia:Woman in bird flu cluster may have had contact with sick chic

I believe there is nothing new here.

The woman was one of many vendors in what I'm surmising is a typical open market, like a souk, with vendor after vendor sitting on the ground, immediately behind their piles of vegetable offerings.

She would have travelled there by bus (Oh, there is no mention of possible casual transmission on the bus by someone else, pre-index case, through air droplets or probably infected surface. WHO remains silent on this point.)

She would have lugged her veggies in some type of carrying device, a cloth, a box, some shopping bags, a large metal or plastic tub?

She spread those on the ground, either directly, most probably on the carrying cloth.

She sat there all day. She drank water probably from a community fountain, using a community cup (just like in Egypt and many other countries).

She received and handled coins and maybe some paper money.

She had no reason to visit chicken vendors. She was there to earn money, not go shopping leisurely.

Western valued assumptions by WHO are indicative of ignorance of the local cultural reality.

 

[Mellie]

Re: More from Indonesia:Woman in bird flu cluster may have had contact with sick chic

Re: More from Indonesia:Woman in bird flu cluster may have had contact with sick chic

GR,

Thanks for the insights. I know this isn't discussion, but sociological and social details of the country are very valuable.

 

[GaudiaRay]

Re: More from Indonesia:Woman in bird flu cluster may have had contact with sick chic

Re: More from Indonesia:Woman in bird flu cluster may have had contact with sick chic

Thx Mellie.

She also was in close contact with the "normal" neighboring vegetable or fruit seller. There's no wasted space at these markets. The neighbor is within 10 feet, more or less, of this woman's selling space.

Socialization goes on as the women gossip amongst each other during the slow times of the day.

Sanitation is not "high" on the agenda at these markets. Making a sale is the goal.

Customers don't approach very closely. They're on the "other side" of the food and sometimes of the wooden "cart" on which the food is stacked.

I never saw any effusive greetings by Indonesians as their culture is very Islamic and Javanese and historically does not show the type of touchy, feely greetings seen in Africa or even in Western Europe. I don't recall, but I don't think that a handshake, for example, was typical among the "street".