I promised that I'd post an update here if it ever appeared possible that the human-to-human transmissions were beginning, and so I am. It should be noted that nothing is confirmed thus far, and that the cluster (if that's what it is) is small (4 people) and limited to one hospital.
ProMED Digest Saturday, November 5 2005 Volume 2005 : Number 498
<snip>
AVIAN INFLUENZA, HUMAN - EAST ASIA (160): INDONESIA
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International Society for Infectious Diseases
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[1]
Date: Sat 5 Nov 2005
From: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
Source: BBC News online, Sat 5 Nov 2005 [edited]
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4409302.stm
A 19-year-old woman has died of bird flu in Indonesia, raising the
[country's] total death toll to 5, officials say. The woman's nephew,
who lived with her in Jakarta, has also been confirmed as suffering
from the virus. Indonesia now has 9 confirmed cases, and health
officials fear that a nurse involved in the care of the latest
casualty may have caught it too.
The announcement comes as the World Bank plans to provide up to $500
million to help poor countries fighting bird flu. It also comes a day
after new major outbreaks of bird flu were reported among poultry in
China and Vietnam. The deadly H5N1 virus has already spread from
South East Asia to birds in Turkey, Romania and Croatia. It has
killed millions of birds across Asia, and millions more have been
culled in an effort to stem the spread of the virus.
At least 60 people have also died of the disease, since its
resurgence at the end of 2003. There are fears the virus could mutate
into a form that passes easily between people. In Europe, 28
countries are due to stage a surprise exercise before the end of the
year to test their ability to cope with a possible bird flu pandemic
among humans.
The latest fatality in Indonesia was a 19-year-old woman from the
town of Tangerang, near the capital, Jakarta, said Ministry of Health
official Hariadi Wibisono. He said the woman was believed to have
contracted the disease from infected dead chickens. Hariadi Wibisono
also said that the dead woman's 8-year-old nephew was a confirmed
case, and was being treated in hospital. The health official added
that the new cases had been confirmed by a laboratory in Hong Kong.
One of the nurses who tended to the woman who died is now in an
isolation ward in Jakarta after showing similar symptoms. Doctors are
waiting for the results of tests before they can confirm that she is
suffering from the deadly H5N1 virus.
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ProMED-mail
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[2]
Date: 5 Nov 2005
From ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
Source: Blomberg News Agency, Sat 5 nov 2005 [edited]
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000080&sid=afPY83zriP54&refer=asia#
The Indonesian Health Ministry today confirmed the country's 5th
human death from avian influenza after receiving test reports from
the World Health Organization's laboratory in Hong Kong. It would be
the 63rd such death reported in Asia since 2004.
"We have had a total of 9 cases of bird flu infections in humans, 5
of whom have died," Hariadi Wibisono, the Ministry's Director, said
in a telephone interview in Jakarta. "The latest fatality is a
19-year-old woman who died on 28 Oct 2005 in Tangerang, near Jakarta".
The Hong Kong laboratory also confirmed another case, an 8-year-old
boy, a relative of the dead woman, who is infected with the H5N1
virus, Wibisono said. The boy is currently hospitalized at the
Sulianti Saroso hospital for infectious disease in north Jakarta, he said.
The H5N1 virus has infected 122 people in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia
and Indonesia since 2004, killing 62 of them, the World Health
Organization said on 1 Nov 2005.
[Byline: Grace Nirang]
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ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
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[3]
Date: Sat 5 Nov 2005
From: ProMED-mail <prtomed@promedmail.org>
Source: The Jakarta Post online, Sat 5 Nov 2005 [edited]
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailnews.asp?fileid=20051105.C02&irec=1
Staff at the Sulianti Saroso Infectious Diseases Hospital in North
Jakarta are closely observing a nurse with avian influenza-like
symptoms after she took care of a patient thought to have the virus
who recently died. The latest case of suspected bird flu infection
comes as Indonesia prepares for a World Health Organization meeting
next week, in which the country will be quizzed on its efforts to
stamp out the virus, which has killed 62 people worldwide. The virus,
which spreads among chickens and fowls, has already reached birds in Europe.
Hospital spokesman Ilham Patou said on Friday the nurse was admitted
to the special hospital just before midnight on Thursday after
complaining of bird flu-like symptoms. "She was suffering from fever
and had cough when she arrived," Ilham said.
A laboratory test on her blood sample would be conducted in a Hong
Kong clinic on Saturday, Ilham said. The nurse had treated a
19-year-old patient with bird flu-like symptoms in the intensive care
unit at Husada Insani Hospital in Tangerang. The patient died on 28 Oct 2005.
The infectious diseases hospital has also been treating [the deceased
woman's daughter] and 2 of her nephews. The 3 toddler-age children,
who Ilham refused to identify, were admitted to the hospital on
Tuesday with bird flu-like symptoms. Ilham said, however, the 3
children had shown signs of improvement. "They are now in a stable
condition. We no longer find them suffering from high fevers, coughs
and respiratory problems," Ilham said.
Doctors were now waiting for the results of laboratory tests on their
blood samples from the Hong Kong lab, which normally took around a
week to complete, he said. There are 3 other suspected bird flu
patients under examination in the hospital. Ilham said their
conditions were all stable.
Ilham said it would require a thorough investigation to determine if
the 19-year-old woman and the 3 children were the 1st human-to-human
victims of the virus, which is normally only transmitted from birds
to people. "The dead patient or persons who get sick after a long
contact with sick people must test positive for the virus before we
can declare that human-to-human transmission has taken place," Ilham said.
The government has said that human-to-human transmission of the virus
at this point remained unlikely. The virus here is confirmed to have
infected 5 people, 3 of whom died.
Minister of Health Siti Fadilah Supari said Indonesia would report
its improvements in disseminating information about the virus and its
surveillance of remote areas during the WHO meeting in Geneva from
Monday through Wednesday. Siti and Minister of Agriculture Anton
Apriyantono will head the Indonesian delegation to the meeting.
- --
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[These reports taken together indicate that a deceased 19-year-old
woman, and at least one of 3 surviving close relatives also admitted
to hospital with symptoms of avian influenza, have been confirmed as
suffering from avian H5N1 influenza virus infection. A nurse who had
contact with the deceased patient during her treatment has herself
been admitted to hospital with similar symptoms. The results of tests
on the nurse are pending. If the nurse is confirmed as a human case
of avian influenza virus infection, this cluster of cases may be
indicative of person-to-person transmission of avian H5N1 influenza
virus. - Mod.CP]
[see also:
Avian influenza, human - East Asia (158): Indonesia, Viet Nam 20051103.3220
Avian influenza, human - East Asia (154): Viet Nam 20051029.3151
Avian influenza, human - East Asia (155): Thailand 20051101.3190
Avian influenza, human - East Asia (154): Viet Nam 20051029.3151
Avian influenza, human - East Asia (150): Indonesia 20051021.3068
Avian influenza, human - East Asia (149): Indonesia, Thailand 20051020.3059
Avian influenza, human - East Asia (148): Thailand 20051020.3057
Avian influenza, human - East Asia (147): WHO 20051014.2991
Avian influenza, human - East Asia (138): WHO review 20051003.2892
Avian influenza, human - East Asia (117): WHO Update 20050818.2423
Avian influenza, human - East Asia (105): CDC update 20050724.2144
Avian influenza, human - East Asia (79): WHO update 20050519.1376
Avian influenza, human - East Asia (09): CDC update 20050116.0144
2004
- ----
Avian influenza, human - East Asia (52): update 20041004.2738
Avian influenza, human - East Asia (35): Update 20040717.1939
Avian influenza - Thailand: OIE update 20040207.0438
2000
- ----
Avian influenza virus, update 20001028.1878]
.....................arn/cp/pg/mpp
------------------------------
End of ProMED Digest V2005 #498
H5N1 flu update/potential alert
Moderator: S2k Moderators
H5N1 flu update/potential alert
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HurriCat
I have read articles that there is also a strain of H5N1 that is showing resistance to TAMIFLU.
Please check this out for yourselves, and don't be getting ulcers or depleting your checking account trying to get Tamiflu. This is becoming a monster money-maker, and there will certainly be alarmists trying to profit off of the situation.
What I personally feel is that this is yet another example of why it isn't good for so many people to crowd together so tightly. You just have to consider things in regards to where you live: is it a flood or storm-prone area; what is the crime rate; many other similar factors - and of course - what if disease breaks out?
I live in Central Florida, where the population growth is just getting stupid. Between the storms and possible diseases, our state is just asking for it. But you have to think for yourself and plan accordingly. Squirrels hide food for the winter, and even a mouse fights savagely if cornered. I'll better my own situation eventually, but I pray I don't have to wait too long. And that is what it's about - that you SEE potential threats and have a PLAN. Squirrels and mice should not have a monoply on such things!
Please check this out for yourselves, and don't be getting ulcers or depleting your checking account trying to get Tamiflu. This is becoming a monster money-maker, and there will certainly be alarmists trying to profit off of the situation.
What I personally feel is that this is yet another example of why it isn't good for so many people to crowd together so tightly. You just have to consider things in regards to where you live: is it a flood or storm-prone area; what is the crime rate; many other similar factors - and of course - what if disease breaks out?
I live in Central Florida, where the population growth is just getting stupid. Between the storms and possible diseases, our state is just asking for it. But you have to think for yourself and plan accordingly. Squirrels hide food for the winter, and even a mouse fights savagely if cornered. I'll better my own situation eventually, but I pray I don't have to wait too long. And that is what it's about - that you SEE potential threats and have a PLAN. Squirrels and mice should not have a monoply on such things!
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The only medicine we are told which reduce the symptoms of general or seasonal influenza and ‘possibly’ might reduce symptoms also of Avian Flu, is a drug called Tamiflu. Today the giant Swiss pharmaceutical firm, Roche, holds the sole license to manufacture Tamiflu. Due to the media panic, the order books at Roche today are filled to overflowing. Roche recently refused a request from the US Congress to lift its exclusive patent rights to allow other drug manug´facturers to produce Tamiflu with the improbable excuse that it was in effect, too complex for others to rapidly produce.
However, the real point of interest is the company in California who developed Tamiflu and gave the marketing rights to its patented discovery to Roche.
Tamiflu was developed and patented in 1996 by a California biotech firm, Gilead Sciences Inc. Gilead is a NASDAQ (GILD) listed stock company which prefers to maintain a low profile in the current rush to Tamiflu. That might be because of who is tied to Gilead. In 1997, before he became US Secretary of Defense, Donald H. Rumsfeld was named Chairman of the Board of Gilead Sciences, where he remained until early 2001 when he became Defense Secretary. Rumsfeld had been on the board of Gilead since 1988 according to a January 3 1997 company press release.
An as-yet-unconfirmed report is that Rumsfeld while Secretary of Defense also purchased an additional stock in his former company, Gilead Sciences Inc., worth $18 million, making him one of its largest if not the largest stock owners today.
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Cookiely
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Hawaii begins airport watch for bird flu
Associated Press
HONOLULU - Hawaii became the first state in the nation this week to monitor airports for signs of bird flu or other flu viruses, health officials said.
Passengers and visitors at Honolulu International Airport will not be required to submit to examinations but will be tested only voluntarily using nose or throat specimens taken at the airport clinic. Passengers could also be referred to the clinic by an airline or medical personnel.
Making flu testing available is expected to improve the state's ability to respond to any threat of a pandemic flu, according to Catherine Chow, a medical prevention officer for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Detailed passenger information will allow health officials to trace contacts and begin disease containment if necessary, she said.
The airport program began Monday under an agreement between the state Health Department and the medical center that operates the airport clinic.
A virulent strain of bird flu has devastated Asia's poultry flocks and killed at least 62 people since 2003. Most of the human deaths have been linked to close contact with infected birds, but experts fear the virus could mutate into a form that spreads from person to person.
Associated Press
HONOLULU - Hawaii became the first state in the nation this week to monitor airports for signs of bird flu or other flu viruses, health officials said.
Passengers and visitors at Honolulu International Airport will not be required to submit to examinations but will be tested only voluntarily using nose or throat specimens taken at the airport clinic. Passengers could also be referred to the clinic by an airline or medical personnel.
Making flu testing available is expected to improve the state's ability to respond to any threat of a pandemic flu, according to Catherine Chow, a medical prevention officer for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Detailed passenger information will allow health officials to trace contacts and begin disease containment if necessary, she said.
The airport program began Monday under an agreement between the state Health Department and the medical center that operates the airport clinic.
A virulent strain of bird flu has devastated Asia's poultry flocks and killed at least 62 people since 2003. Most of the human deaths have been linked to close contact with infected birds, but experts fear the virus could mutate into a form that spreads from person to person.
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