16-year-old Chinese boy dies of bird flu
- From: Chim <ChimS1@xxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 20 Jan 2009 11:00:19 -0800 (PST)
Tue Jan 20, 3:55 am ET
BEIJING – A 16-year-old boy infected with the H5N1 bird flu virus has
died in central China, the official Xinhua News Agency said Tuesday,
the country's third fatality from the disease this month.
Authorities also stepped up bird flu precautions on fears that the
deadly virus can spread more quickly in cold weather and as tens of
millions of people travel between cities and rural hometowns for the
Lunar New Year holiday, which typically includes feasts with poultry.
The student surnamed Wu, who had been in critical condition, died
Tuesday morning in Huaihua, a city in Hunan province, Xinhua said. He
fell ill on Jan. 8 in his hometown in the neighboring province of
Guizhou and was transferred to a hospital in Huaihua on Jan. 16, when
his condition worsened.
He had had contact with dead poultry, the report said without giving
other details.
The two other bird flu deaths were a 27-year-old woman in Shandong
province in the country's east who died on Saturday and a 19-year-old
woman who died in Beijing on Jan. 5.
Also Tuesday, a 2-year-old girl who had been critically ill with the
H5N1 virus in Hunan was in stable condition and had returned to her
home in the north, China Central Television said in its noon newscast.
The state television report said the girl had been to live poultry
markets "many times" but did not elaborate.
The girl's mother died earlier this month from pneumonia after being
exposed to poultry, a Hunan health official said in an interview with
a state-run newspaper published Tuesday. However, he could not confirm
a link to H5N1.
Most bird flu cases stem from exposure to sick birds, but human-to-
human transmission of bird flu has happened about a dozen times in the
past in countries including China, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, and
Turkey. In nearly every case, transmission has occurred among blood
relatives who have been in close contact, and the virus has not spread
into the wider community.
While the disease remains hard for humans to catch, scientists have
warned that if outbreaks among poultry are not controlled, the virus
may mutate into a form more easily passed between people. A new
influenza virus could quickly turn into a pandemic, infecting millions
of people with no immunity.
No sick poultry has been found in the areas where the four people fell
ill this year, despite officials inspecting hundreds of thousands of
birds. This could mean that surveillance needs to be tightened or that
poultry may be carrying the virus but not showing symptoms or falling
sick. Vaccinations also reduce the amount of virus circulating, but
low levels of H5N1 may still be causing outbreaks — without the
obvious signs of dying birds.
Until this month, no new human cases had been reported in China since
February 2007. Shu Yuelong, a flu expert at China's National Center
for Disease Control and Prevention, said a spike in infections was
likely because the H5N1 virus is more active in lower temperatures.
The cases come as an estimated 188 million people travel between
cities and rural hometowns for Lunar New Year, the country's biggest
holiday, which begins next week.
Celebratory family meals often include dishes made from freshly
slaughtered chicken and duck feature, meaning a potentially greater
risk of exposure to sick birds as people shop in markets for poultry
or when the birds are transported to be sold.
The Agriculture Ministry has ordered tighter monitoring of disease
outbreaks at all levels and proper vaccination of all poultry. It
would also increase checks across the country and at borders.
According to World Health Organization, bird flu has killed 249 people
worldwide since 2003. The tally does not include Tuesday's death in
China, where a total of 34 infections have been reported.
.
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