Close contact could see humans spread bird flu-WHO
- From: "Chim" <ChimS1@xxxxxxx>
- Date: 22 Sep 2005 05:09:34 -0700
Close contact could see humans spread bird flu-WHO
By Dan Eaton and Achmad Sukarsono, Reuters
JAKARTA, Sept 22 (Reuters) - The growing number of people with bird
flu-like symptoms in Indonesia does not mean the outbreak is becoming
worse, and there is no sign the virus can be passed easily among
people, top U.N. health experts said on Thursday.
Alarm has spread in populous Indonesia after four people died and with
now 10 are under observation in the capital.
But there is no evidence the H5N1 virus has mutated into a form that
could trigger a pandemic, said Georg Petersen, the World Health
Organisation's Indonesia representative.
Nevertheless, he pointed to the possibility of transmission through
very close contact with an infected person.
"I think very close contact with a sick person might infect that
caretaker. That is why in hospitals we need to take all precautions ...
That would be in a way a human-to-human transmission, but that demands
close, close contact," he said.
"Anytime someone coughs and you get it ... that would be much more what
we would call transmission from human to human."
Petersen said the case of a father and his two daughters who died in
the Tangerang suburb of Jakarta in July might have involved
"within-family transmission."
Thailand had reported a probable case of human-to-human transmission in
September 2004, when a 26-year-old woman died of bird flu after
"prolonged face-to-face exposure" with her daughter, who was
hospitalised with the virus.
Dr Margaret Chan, the WHO's global special representative on avian flu,
also said on Thursday there was no sign the virus had mutated into a
form that could easily spread among people.
"So far there is no evidence for increased chance of human-to-human
transmission," Chan told Reuters by telephone from Sydney after
attending a WHO conference in Noumea, capital of New Caledonia in the
South Pacific.
The rise in the number of suspected cases did not point to an epidemic,
she said.
"With increased surveillance it's not unusual that you would pick up
more cases," Chan said.
Bird flu has killed 64 people in Asia since 2003 and has since been
found in birds in Russia and Europe.
HIGH ALERT
Petersen said laboratory tests on people killed by bird flu in
Indonesia showed they had the same or a similar virus that has killed
millions of poultry in Asia.
"The tests from the 37-year-old woman ... so far that looks like the
bird virus. So there is no reason to believe there has been any
mutation so far," Petersen said of the fourth confirmed bird flu death
in the country.
"In the context of bird flu ... we have transmission from an avian
epidemic to humans in a few cases. And so far the virus we have found
in the people who have died of this is the same virus or similar to the
virus circulating in the chicken population. There is no sort of
epidemic amongst humans."
I Nyoman Kandun, the head of disease control at Indonesia's health
ministry, said tests so far showed there was only one patient out of
those being observed who was positive for the H5N1 virus. That patient
is related to the Jakarta woman who died of bird flu almost two weeks
ago.
He said initial testing showed that a girl who died on Wednesday did
not die of bird flu, but further blood samples have been sent to a Hong
Kong laboratory.
The WHO last week warned bird flu was moving towards a form that could
be passed between humans and the world had no time to waste to prevent
a pandemic. Past pandemics have killed millions.
The U.N. health agency was also working with Jakarta to source new
stocks of the anti-viral drug Tamiflu to bolster local stocks. Tamiflu
is a tablet that can help against infection. Several companies are
working on a vaccine, but tests are not expected to begin until later
this year.
The government has appealed for public calm over the virus, which has
dominated local media reports in recent days. On Monday, it imposed a
state of high alert, giving authorities power to order people with
symptoms of the virus into hospitals.
Besides Indonesia, bird flu has killed 44 people in Vietnam, 12 people
in Thailand and four in Cambodia.
Australia said on Thursday it would pay A$30,000 ($23,000) for 10,000
doses of anti-viral bird flu medicine for Indonesia aimed at protecting
health workers in the event of a pandemic.
(Additional reporting by Michelle Nichols in Canberra)
09/22/05 07:22 ET
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