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Human to Human Transmission of Bird Flu Has Begun
Reacting to the death on Monday of an Indonesian man, the World Health Organization said Tuesday that the case appeared to be the first example of the avian flu jumping from human to human to human.
According to an evening radio broadcast on 5/23, the death toll has reached a total of seven family members out of a total of eight who were infected with the illness.
The World Health Organization isn't realeasing the data on the genetics of the viral culprits at this point. They've only stated that the virus doesn't contain any "significant mutations" in comparision to the deadkt avian virus samples. However, this example seems to be concrete proof that the virus has jumped to human beings and is now infecting through human-to-human contact. There isn't any evidence that the virus has achieved an efficient rate of transfer, but that can happen rapidly. Viruses have been known to travel around the world in as short as 36 hours.
According to an evening radio broadcast on 5/23, the death toll has reached a total of seven family members out of a total of eight who were infected with the illness.
The World Health Organization isn't realeasing the data on the genetics of the viral culprits at this point. They've only stated that the virus doesn't contain any "significant mutations" in comparision to the deadkt avian virus samples. However, this example seems to be concrete proof that the virus has jumped to human beings and is now infecting through human-to-human contact. There isn't any evidence that the virus has achieved an efficient rate of transfer, but that can happen rapidly. Viruses have been known to travel around the world in as short as 36 hours.
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Bird flu may have leaped between people
By DONALD G. MCNEIL JR.
THE NEW YORK TIMES
Reacting to the death on Monday of an Indonesian man, the World Health Organization said Tuesday that the case appeared to be the first example of the avian flu jumping from human to human to human.
But the health agency quickly cautioned that this did not necessarily mean that the virus had mutated into a strain that could start a pandemic by jumping rapidly between people as ordinary flu does.
It is a "definite possibility" that the virus jumped more than once inside a family cluster, said Maria Cheng, a spokeswoman for the WHO in Geneva. Although a second jump sounds alarming, "It doesn't look like the trend has changed," she said. "Each case was in very close contact with the previous one."
In the past there have been at least three cases of suspected human-to-human transmission of this strain of bird flu; all were between family members who spent hours in close contact and would have breathed in large amounts of virus-contaminated droplets. The virus is known to attach itself to receptors deep in the lungs, not in the nose and throat as seasonal flu does.
The man who died was 32 and became sick on May 15. He is believed to have caught the flu while caring for his 10-year-old son, who died of the disease on May 13.
Six of the seven people in the family who have caught the deadly disease have died, the most recent on Monday. It is one of the largest human clusters ever reported.
Bird flu may have leaped between people
By DONALD G. MCNEIL JR.
THE NEW YORK TIMES
Reacting to the death on Monday of an Indonesian man, the World Health Organization said Tuesday that the case appeared to be the first example of the avian flu jumping from human to human to human.
But the health agency quickly cautioned that this did not necessarily mean that the virus had mutated into a strain that could start a pandemic by jumping rapidly between people as ordinary flu does.
It is a "definite possibility" that the virus jumped more than once inside a family cluster, said Maria Cheng, a spokeswoman for the WHO in Geneva. Although a second jump sounds alarming, "It doesn't look like the trend has changed," she said. "Each case was in very close contact with the previous one."
In the past there have been at least three cases of suspected human-to-human transmission of this strain of bird flu; all were between family members who spent hours in close contact and would have breathed in large amounts of virus-contaminated droplets. The virus is known to attach itself to receptors deep in the lungs, not in the nose and throat as seasonal flu does.
The man who died was 32 and became sick on May 15. He is believed to have caught the flu while caring for his 10-year-old son, who died of the disease on May 13.
Six of the seven people in the family who have caught the deadly disease have died, the most recent on Monday. It is one of the largest human clusters ever reported.
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IMC Network
23 May 2006
The Ministry of Health in Indonesia has confirmed an additional case of human infection with the H5N1 avian influenza virus. The case occurred in a 32-year-old man. He developed symptoms on 15 May and died on 22 May.
The case is part of a family cluster in the Kubu Sembelang village, Karo District, of North Sumatra. The man is the seventh member of an extended family to become infected with the H5N1 virus and the sixth to die. An additional person, who was the first member of the family to fall ill, died of respiratory disease on 4 May. No specimens were taken prior to her burial and the cause of her death cannot be determined. However, as her clinical course was compatible with H5N1 infection, epidemiologists at the outbreak site include this woman as the initial case in the cluster.
The newly confirmed case is a brother of the initial case. Specimens were taken on 21 May and flown the same day to Jakarta. Tests run overnight confirmed his infection. His 10-year-old son died of H5N1 infection on 13 May. The father was closely involved in caring for his son, and this contact is considered a possible source of infection.
Although the investigation is continuing, preliminary findings indicate that three of the confirmed cases spent the night of 29 April in a small room together with the initial case at a time when she was symptomatic and coughing frequently. These cases include the woman’s two sons and a second brother, aged 25 years, who is the sole surviving case among infected members of this family. Other infected family members lived in adjacent homes.
All confirmed cases in the cluster can be directly linked to close and prolonged exposure to a patient during a phase of severe illness. Although human-to-human transmission cannot be ruled out, the search for a possible alternative source of exposure is continuing.
Both the Ministry of Health and WHO are concerned about the situation in Kubu Sembelang and have intensified investigation and response activities. Priority is now being given to the search for additional cases of influenza-like illness in other family members, close contacts, and the general community. To date, the investigation has found no evidence of spread within the general community and no evidence that efficient human-to-human transmission has occurred.
Analysis of viruses
Full genetic sequencing of two viruses isolated from cases in this cluster has been completed by WHO H5 reference laboratories in Hong Kong and the USA. Sequencing of all eight gene segments found no evidence of genetic reassortment with human or pig influenza viruses and no evidence of significant mutations. The viruses showed no mutations associated with resistance to the neuraminidase inhibitors, including oseltamivir (Tamiflu).
The human viruses from this cluster are genetically similar to viruses isolated from poultry in North Sumatra during a previous outbreak.