may 07 Health Alerts

The Ministry of Health of Indonesia has announced a new case of human infection of H5N1 avian influenza. A 45-year-old male from Grobogan district, Central Java Province developed symptoms on 17 May, was hospitalized on 26 May and died in hospital on 28 May. Initial investigations into the source of his infection indicate exposure to dead poultry.

Of the 98 cases confirmed to date in Indonesia, 78 have been fatal.

Cases of the H7N2 flu virus have been identified following the discovery of avian flu at a smallholding near Corwen in North Wales . By 10 AM this morning, Sat 26 May 2007, 26 people have been identified in Wales as being possible contacts of avian flu. Eleven of the 26 people are cases with symptoms of a flu-like illness or conjunctivitis. No one is seriously ill. This virus is not the same as the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain and does not have the same animal or public health implications

China 's Ministry of Health has announced a new human case of bird flu. A 19-year-old man, who is a soldier in the People's Liberation Army (PLA), is now receiving treatment at an army hospital. He developed symptoms of fever, cough and pneumonia on May 9 and was sent to an army hospital on May 14 and has been hospitalized since then. Tests by local Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on May 18 show that he had been infected with bird flu virus strain H5N1

China 's Ministry of Health has announced a new human case of bird flu. A 19-year-old man, who is a soldier in the People's Liberation Army (PLA), is now receiving treatment at an army hospital. He developed symptoms of fever, cough and pneumonia on May 9 and was sent to an army hospital on May 14 and has been hospitalized since then. Tests by local Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on May 18 show that he had been infected with bird flu virus strain H5N1.

Viet Nam confirmed on Wednesday its 1st human bird flu case in more
than a year, as the virus continues to spread through the country's
poultry stocks. A 30-year-old man from northern Vinh Phuc province
remains in a critical condition after testing positive for the H5N1
virus 3 days ago [20 May 2007], said Tran Quy, director of Bach Mai
hospital in Hanoi.
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Communicated by:
ProMED-mail Rapporteur Joseph P. Dudley, Ph.D

Source: International Herald Tribune online, Associated Press report [edited]
< http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/05/23/asia/AS-GEN-Vietnam-Bird-Flu.php >

WHO can now confirm 15 additional cases, including 13 deaths of human infection with H5N1 avian influenza that occurred in Indonesia from the end of January 2007 up to the present and has updated its table of confirmed human cases accordingly. Seven of these cases had exposure to sick or dead poultry; the source of infection is unknown for eight cases. The figures for human H5N1 infectiions in Indonesia now read:

Cases: 96
Deaths: 76

WHO had previously required external confirmation of laboratory results from Indonesia , but following a formal on-site assessment of the capacity of national laboratory in Jakarta to diagnose H5 avian influenza viruses, WHO will now accept the results from the national laboratory, in collaboration with the Eijkman Institute without further external confirmation.

The assessment was carried out by a WHO team of virologists and laboratory scientists from the WHO Collaborating Centre in Tokyo, Japan, the national influenza centres of India and Thailand, the WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia and the WHO Country Office of Indonesia.

In a statement made to the World Health Organisation’s annual assembly in Geneva on May 15 Indonesia ’s health minister reported that Indonesia has resumed sending its H5N1 specimens to the WHO collaborating centre in Tokyo after a five-month gap.

Indonesia , which has the world's highest human death toll from bird flu, stopped sharing virus with the WHO last December because it said it feared that it would not benefit from any vaccines made from it.

Figures issued by the Indonesian Ministry of Health show the distribution of human cases as of 7 May 2007

Number of H5N1 confirmed cases as of 7 May 2007:

Bird flu has killed a woman in Indonesia , taking the death toll in the country to 75, a health ministry official said on Monday 7 May 2007. The woman was admitted to the International Hospital in Medan in northern Sumatra , on 2 May 2007 , and died 2 days later. Indonesia is the country worst hit by the virus and in an attempt to eradicate the disease in the capital Jakarta authorities have banned the keeping of backyard chickens.

Exact figures for the prevalence of human infections remain a little confused as the World Health Organisation figures are lower than those quoted to the press by Indonesian authorities which no doubt arises from a yet to be resolved dispute between the Indonesian Government and WHO about the sharing of samples. Indonesia stopped sending samples in December 2006 over concerns that drug firms would use them to develop costly vaccines beyond the budgets of poorer countries.

Although an agreement was reached with WHO in March 2007 Indonesia wants a written guarantee under the agreement that drug companies will need permission from a country for access to its virus samples.

Ghana 's agriculture minister on May 2 reported the West African country's first case of the H5N1 infection in birds in the port city of Tema . The area has been sealed off and birds have been culled. This is the first report and has now been confirmed from World Health Organisation sources.