DECEMBER 07 Health Alerts
AVIAN INFLUENZA, EGYPT
31/12/07
An Egyptian woman who had been in contact with sick birds died of the a vian influenza virus on Monday [31 Dec 2007], the 3rd death in the most populous Arab country from bird flu in less than a week, the Health Ministry said. The ministry said in a statement that the
woman, a resident of Menoufia province in the Nile Delta, was taken to hospital on Saturday [29 Dec 2007] and died early on Monday [31 Dec 2008]. "She suffered from a high fever and difficulty breathing and had a pulmonary infection after coming into contact with birds
suspected of being infected with avian flu," the statement said. "She was placed on a respirator but died at dawn on Monday [31 Dec 2007]."
The death was the 18th bird flu fatality and the 43rd human case in Egypt since the deadly H5N1 virus arrived in early 2006.
It came a day after a 25-year-old Egyptian woman died of bird flu in the Nile Delta city of Mansoura. Another woman died of bird flu on Wednesday [26 Dec 2007] in Beni Suef province south of Cairo.
It is the 3rd winter that the virus has struck after lying low during Egypt's hot summers, when it is much less likely to spread from one carrier to another. The government has promoted a poultry vaccination programme but coercive measures are hard to enforce. Around 5 million
households in Egypt depend on poultry as a main source of food and income, and the government has said this makes it unlikely the disease can be eradicated.
Benin reports first cases
17/12/07
Benin in West Africa has reported two outbreaks of H5N1 infection in chickens in the southern part of the country near the capital Cotonou. The cases were identified on December 7 and have now been confirmed
Human avian influenza reported in Myanmar and Pakistan
16/12/07
World Health Organisation has confirmed Myanmar 's first human case of bird flu. The case is a 7-year-old female from Kyaing Tone Township , Shan State (East) and she developed symptoms on Nov. 21 in an area where there had been an outbreak of the H5N1 virus in poultry, and she was identified in a routine surveillance. She was hospitalised on Nov. 27 and has recovered.
A spokesman of the Pakistan Health Ministry in Islamabad said that two brothers from Mansehra are the first human sufferers of H5N1 in the country. Both died last Monday in a hospital. Confirmation of the infection from independent laboratory is awaited.
Situation in Indonesia WHO update
13/12/07
The Ministry of Health of Indonesia has announced a new case of human infection of H5N1 avian influenza. A 47-year-old male from Tangerang City , Banten Province developed symptoms on 2 December and was hospitalized on 9 December. The source of his exposure is currently under investigation.
Indonesia confirms 92nd bird flu death
13/12/07
A 28-year-old woman from the outskirts of the Indonesian capital has been confirmed as dying of bird flu, raising the toll in the nation worst affected by H5N1 to 92.The victim lived in the satellite city of Tangerang, just west of Jakarta, where 3 other bird flu deaths have been reported since October [2007]. The World Bank said last week [3-7 Dec 2007] that international donors had committed more than 400 million dollars to fight bird flu at a conference on the virus in New Delhi aimed at devising ways to tackle the disease. But the Bank has projected a need for 1.2 billion dollars over the next 2 to 3 years to help countries fight bird flu.
Another Human Case in China
8/12/07
The father of a man in China who died this week of bird flu has also tested positive for the H5N1 strain of the disease, the country's health ministry reported on Friday [7 Dec 2007].A statement on the ministry website said a 52-year-old man in eastern Jiangsu province, has been confirmed with the virus, just days after his 24-year-old son died on Sunday [2 Dec 2007]. The man developed a fever and pneumonia symptoms on Monday [3 Dec 2007] while under preventive medical observation following his son's death, the statement said. It added that 2 days later, Jiangsu bird flu experts conducted tests to determine whether he had the virus and confirmed the diagnosis on Thursday [6 Dec 2007]. The ministry added that all people who had been in contact with the 52-year-old man were under observation but that no new cases had appeared.
Saudi Arabia update
8/12/07
A further discovery at a table-egg farm in the Al-Kharj region south of Riyadh brings the total number of outbreaks in Saudi Arabia to 15. All cases of bird flu in the kingdom so far have come from the Riyadh province. So far about 4 million birds have been culled.
First reported cases in Benin
8/12/07
An outbreak in Cotonou involving a layer chicken flock was reported on 5 December by the Ministry for Agriculture. It is suspected that the poultry became infected by fraudulent movement of birds from neighbouring Ghana .
New fatal human case in China
04/12/07
A man in east China 's Jiangsu province died of bird flu on Sunday [2 Dec 2007], the provincial health department reported. The 24-year-old man was hospitalised on 27 November with pneumonia-like symptoms but rapidly deteriorated. The chinese Ministry of Health has confirmed that he was infected with H5N1 avian influenza. There was no history of cantact with sick birds and the Jiangsu Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Bureau said that no bird flu epidemic had been found in the province so far. This is the first new human case reported in China since 30 May 2007.
Poland reports outbreak
03/12/07
Two turkey farms in the Plock area, some 80 km (50 miles) northwest of Warsaw have been cordoned off and routine precautions carried out after an outbreak of H5N1 infection was discovered. Over 4000 birds have been culled. No human cases have occurred . Previously Poland had reported only a few cases of the disease in wild swans in 2006.
