person:
Five confirmed cases of bird flu among members of an Indonesian family in North Sumatra are mystifying authorities investigating if the virus was spread by animals or passed from person to person, a World Health Organization official said.
Officials, including a WHO epidemiologist, returned to the village of Kubu Sembilang yesterday to try to pinpoint how the people became infected with the lethal H5N1 strain of avian influenza in the last month. Tests on poultry and pigs in the village have shown no sign of the virus.
Without an animal link, scientists cannot rule out human-to-human transmission, a sign that would suggest the virus has undergone genetic changes that make it more contagious to people. Bird flu could become a global pandemic if the virus becomes contagious among people.
"It is certainly alarming," said Dick Thompson, a WHO spokesman in Geneva, Switzerland. "This is the largest H5N1 cluster we have seen. There are obviously important questions that we need answered. But right now it is too early in the investigation to say anything definitive."
Yesterday three members of the family said they were feeling sick, with symptoms including headache and cough.
"At this point, there is no indication of any further cases beyond this cluster in this one family," said Steven Bjorge, a technical officer with WHO in Jakarta.
At least 115 of the 208 people known to have been infected with the bird flu have died, WHO said on its Web site May 12. The tally does not include six cases - five of them fatal - in North Sumatra and an unrelated fatality in East Java confirmed by WHO yesterday.
Of interest to virologists studying the cluster in North Sumatra are the pigs, chickens and ducks raised by about half of Kubu Sembilang's 400 households. Waterfowl are the natural hosts of avian influenza, and pigs are susceptible to both human and avian strains and are considered a potential "mixing bowl" of flu viruses.
Proximity of households and a history of poultry outbreaks are possible factors in the outbreak, Bjorge said.
None of the animals in the village have recently shown signs of sickness, Veronita, a family member, said. "Last night, the district leader himself cut off the head of a chicken and had it cooked to prove that the poultry here are safe to eat," she said.
That is little comfort for surviving family members.
"In one week, six members of my family died," said Umbat, 30, whose husband is related to those who died. "We haven't done anything since because we're so full of grief."
UPDATE/GOOD NEWS:World Health Organization officials said Thursday that the five avian flu deaths confirmed this week on Sumatra were probably not a result of human-to-human infection.
Five confirmed cases of bird flu among members of an Indonesian family in North Sumatra are mystifying authorities investigating if the virus was spread by animals or passed from person to person, a World Health Organization official said.
Officials, including a WHO epidemiologist, returned to the village of Kubu Sembilang yesterday to try to pinpoint how the people became infected with the lethal H5N1 strain of avian influenza in the last month. Tests on poultry and pigs in the village have shown no sign of the virus.
Without an animal link, scientists cannot rule out human-to-human transmission, a sign that would suggest the virus has undergone genetic changes that make it more contagious to people. Bird flu could become a global pandemic if the virus becomes contagious among people.
"It is certainly alarming," said Dick Thompson, a WHO spokesman in Geneva, Switzerland. "This is the largest H5N1 cluster we have seen. There are obviously important questions that we need answered. But right now it is too early in the investigation to say anything definitive."
Yesterday three members of the family said they were feeling sick, with symptoms including headache and cough.
"At this point, there is no indication of any further cases beyond this cluster in this one family," said Steven Bjorge, a technical officer with WHO in Jakarta.
At least 115 of the 208 people known to have been infected with the bird flu have died, WHO said on its Web site May 12. The tally does not include six cases - five of them fatal - in North Sumatra and an unrelated fatality in East Java confirmed by WHO yesterday.
Of interest to virologists studying the cluster in North Sumatra are the pigs, chickens and ducks raised by about half of Kubu Sembilang's 400 households. Waterfowl are the natural hosts of avian influenza, and pigs are susceptible to both human and avian strains and are considered a potential "mixing bowl" of flu viruses.
Proximity of households and a history of poultry outbreaks are possible factors in the outbreak, Bjorge said.
None of the animals in the village have recently shown signs of sickness, Veronita, a family member, said. "Last night, the district leader himself cut off the head of a chicken and had it cooked to prove that the poultry here are safe to eat," she said.
That is little comfort for surviving family members.
"In one week, six members of my family died," said Umbat, 30, whose husband is related to those who died. "We haven't done anything since because we're so full of grief."
UPDATE/GOOD NEWS:World Health Organization officials said Thursday that the five avian flu deaths confirmed this week on Sumatra were probably not a result of human-to-human infection.
This is the worst. What gets me is it seems like this flu moves very fast killing people very quick. Am I right to think this way 
