Re: Pakistan: December 18+, WHO Begins Investigations
Re: Pakistan: December 18+, WHO Begins Investigations
AVIAN INFLUENZA, HUMAN (172): CHINA, PAKISTAN
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A ProMED-mail post
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ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
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http://www.isid.org>
[1]
Date: Fri 21 Dec 2007
Source: EARTHtimes.org, DPA report [edited]
<
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/162668.html>
The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday [21 Dec 2007] that it
was impossible to say whether a case of bird flu in China in a 52 year old
man was due to human-to-human transmission, but, even if it was, it was
down to very close contact between the victims. The assistant
director-general for health security at WHO, Dr David Heymann, said the
only proven transmission of this nature so far, in Indonesia and Thailand,
had been as a result of very "close contact" in a "very circumscribed area".
WHO was still awaiting final tests results for a recent cluster of cases in
the north west region of Pakistan. The team of WHO experts, who traveled to
the area earlier this week, believed though that the 1st ever human cases
in the country were again a result of intimate contact. Heymann said the
virus could, on "occasional instances, be transmitted" between humans but
that it was not transmittable like influenza with a sneeze. "It's not that
kind of transmission".
In China, both the man and his 24 year old son, who died on 2 Dec 2007, had
been exposed to the same common source. Infection had also occurred during
the incubation period. There had also been close contact with another 600
people, but blood tests had confirmed they were free from the virus.
Heymann said: "Even if there had been human-to-human transmission, it was
limited and did not continue. It was not sustained, and it's that which is
very important."
However, though the H5N1 strain of bird flu has not jumped the species
barrier in a way that would cause a major outbreak so far, the scientific
community remains convinced there is a real possibility of an influenza
pandemic in the future, but it cannot say whether H5N1 will be the source
or another flu variant.
--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail rapporteur Mary Marshall
******
[2]
Date: Fri 21 Dec 2007
Source: Associated Press report [edited]
<
http://malaysia.news.yahoo.com/ap/20071221/tap-as-gen-pakistan-bird-flu-1st-
ld-writ-d3b07b8.html>
Limited human-to-human bird flu transmission may have occurred in Pakistan,
but no new infections have been reported for 2 weeks, and there appears to
be no threat of further spread, a top World Health Organization official
said on Fri 21 Dec 2007. A WHO team has finished its initial investigation
in Pakistan after up to 9 patients, including several family members, were
suspected of being infected with the H5N1 bird flu virus in areas north of
Islamabad. They were the country's 1st reported human cases.
The experts were expected back in Geneva to begin piecing together how the
virus may have spread, but they found no evidence of anyone currently
sickened by the virus, Dr David Heymann, WHO's top flu official in Geneva,
told The Associated Press by telephone. "I think the team right now feels
on initial analysis that this might be a small chain of human-to-human,
non-sustained transmission," he said, stressing that there was no cause for
alarm. He said the last reported case was on 6 Dec 2007. Pakistani health
officials have conducted initial testing on the samples and found them to
be positive, but WHO has sent the specimens to one of its collaborating
laboratories for confirmation.
At least 209 people have died worldwide from the virus, which began
plaguing Asian poultry stocks in late 2003. It remains hard for people to
catch, but scientists worry it could mutate into a form that spreads easily
among people, potentially sparking a pandemic. Most cases have been linked
to contact with infected birds, but scientists believe limited
human-to-human transmission has occurred a few times before among blood
relatives who had close contact.
Five brothers were sickened last month [November 2007] in the small city of
Abbotabad, about 50 km (30 miles) north of Islamabad. One was a
veterinarian who was involved in slaughtering sick poultry infected with
bird flu. Two of his brothers fell ill and died, one of whom was buried
before tests were conducted. The veterinarian and his other 2 brothers
recovered. Up to 5 other people in the same area also tested positive for
the virus in preliminary tests.
Heymann said no one knows when a pandemic will occur or what virus will
start it, but countries need to be prepared to take action. "The more it
reproduces, whether it's in humans or chickens, the more likely it is that
there will be an event that will occur that causes it," he said. "We just
have to wait to see what's going to happen."
Meanwhile, Indonesia, which is the world's hardest-hit country with 93
human deaths, also reported on Friday [21 Dec 2007] that 5 people from an
extended family had been hospitalized with flu-like symptoms in an area
where bird flu was earlier reported in poultry. Specimens have been taken
to determine whether any of the relatives were infected with the H5N1
virus. Myanmar reported its 1st human case last week, and a number of other
countries have recently reported poultry outbreaks during the winter
months, when the virus typically flares.
[byline: Margie Mason]
--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail rapporteur Mary Marshall
[These 2 reports indicate that the recent outbreaks in China and Pakistan
have not spread. Limited human-to-human transmission cannot be excluded in
either of these recent incidents, but if it occurs, it appears to be
restricted to blood relatives, suggesting that innate genetic
susceptibility is still the main predisposing factor.
As yet, none of the H5N1-positive cases in Pakistan has been confirmed by
an independent WHO reference laboratory. A significant factor in the
Pakistan outbreak may be that the index case has been identified as a
veterinarian (and one of the group of 5 brothers) employed in the culling
of infected poultry. - Mod.CP]
[see also:
Avian influenza, human (159): China (Jiangsu), WHO
20071211.3987
Avian influenza, human (171): Pakistan
20071220.4089
Avian influenza, human (169): Pakistan
20071218.4072
Avian influenza, human (168): Pakistan
20071217.4059
Avian influenza, human (167): Pakistan
20071216.4049
Avian influenza, human (166): Pakistan, WHO
20071215.4038
Avian influenza, human (165): Pakistan
20071214.4023
Avian influenza, human (163): Pakistan 1st report
20071213.4008]
................cp/msp/sh
