- The World Health Organisation said yesterday that two
Vietnamese sisters who died from bird flu might have contracted the disease
from their brother, making it the first "human to human" transmission
of the virus in this outbreak.
-
- The announcement marks yet another worrying development
in the spread of the disease.
-
- The WHO said that the women, aged 23 and 30, might have
had contact with birds carrying the virus. But its inquiries indicated
that "human to human" transmission was the most likely reason
for them contracting the disease.
-
- The unidentified women were taken to hospital on January
13 after attending their brother's wedding.
-
- He died the following day of respiratory failure, but
was cremated before tissue samples were taken from him, so the exact cause
of his death is uncertain.
-
- The Vietnamese authorities said last week that the sisters
had died of the H5N1 strain of bird flu. The WHO confirmed this only yesterday,
after further testing in Hong Kong.
-
- "In the current family cluster of cases in Vietnam,
the WHO considers that limited human-to-human transmission, from the brother
to his sisters, is one possible explanation," it said.
-
- "The investigation failed to reveal a specific event,
such as contact with infected poultry or an environmental source, that
might explain the source of infection in these cases.
-
- "However, as H5N1 infection in poultry is widespread
in Vietnam, direct transmission from poultry to humans cannot be entirely
ruled out on the basis of available evidence."
-
- Further tests are being conducted on the sisters' bodies
to ascertain whether the virus has mutated.
-
- "At present, no evidence indicates that efficient
human-to-human transmission is occurring in Vietnam or elsewhere,"
the WHO said.
-
- "Human cases are being investigated to identify
the source of infection, and evidence to date is reassuring," the
statement added.
-
- The sisters' bring to 10 the number of bird flu fatalities
in Vietnam.
-
- Infected birds have been reported in 44 of the country's
64 provinces.
-
- Two people have also died from the illness in Thailand,
where half a dozen other suspicious deaths are being investigated.
-
- The WHO said that limited human-to-human transmission
was recorded in both the outbreak in Hong Kong in 1997 and that in the
Netherlands last year.
-
- Neither developed into the worst case scenario of a mutating
pandemic.
-
- Bird flu has been recorded in 10 countries, and yesterday
China reported five new areas with suspected cases, taking the number of
areas identified to 11.
-
- The popular live poultry markets and the processing factories
have been closed in the affected areas.
-
- Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited
2004
-
- http://www.guardian.co.uk/birdflu/story/0,14207,1136925,00.html
-
-
- Comment
- From Patricia Doyle, PhD
- dr_p_doyle@hotmail.com
- 2-2-4
-
- Wow - and the idiots have been playing with it (I have
documented it) since 2002. Samples are being made up to send all over
the world. When reverse genetics is all finished we could end up with
a major pandemic.
-
- Remember, avian influenza began as an epizootic therefore
Plum Island would probably be researching it. That does not instill confidence
in me, since the Plum is also a wildlife refuge and birds fly in and out
headed between the artic and the tip of South America.
-
- Now you know why they are working in BSL 4 labs.
-
- Patty
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