Posted on 12/07/2007 7:17:16 PM PST by blam
Father catches bird flu that killed his son
By Roger Highfield
Last Updated: 3:01am GMT 08/12/2007
Fears that the virus responsible for bird flu has evolved to spread between people have been raised after the father of a man who died from the disease was reported to have developed the infection.
Humans can contract the potentially lethal H5N1 bird flu virus from close contact with infected birds but scientists fear that it could mutate into a version that spreads from person to person, raising the risk of wider outbreaks or even a global pandemic.
The World Health Organisation said that two members of the same Chinese family had contracted bird flu, adding that it could not rule out the possibility of human-to-human infection, leading to fears of wider transmission of the H5N1 virus.
The father of a Chinese man who died was diagnosed with the disease after developing a fever and pneumonia-like symptoms.
China's National Disease Authority has confirmed that the 52-year-old from Nanjing, capital of the eastern province Jiangsu, had the H5N1 strain. His 24-year-old son died on Sunday from the same disease.
Fears of human to human transmission were stirred by a report by the Xinhua news agency that the son had no contact with dead poultry and there had been no reported outbreak among birds in the province.
Christine McNab, of the World Health Organisation, said health authorities were monitoring another 69 people who had been in close contact with the son. None had yet shown symptoms of H5N1 infection.
That seemed to indicate that it was unlikely the virus was being easily passed between humans, she said.
There are two other potential routes of infection: they could have been infected by the same source, such as a bird, or by different sources. Genetic tests on the virus in each man will also shed light on the source of the infection.
Sporadic and very limited human to human transmission of the highly viral H5N1 flu strain has been reported in Hong Kong, Vietnam and Indonesia but it tended to be among family members who came into close contact and the spread was not sustained.
The H5N1 strain of bird flu has killed more than 200 people worldwide since late 2003. But the number of human infections has declined.
Despite that, Dr David Nabarro, the UN official co-ordinating the global fight against bird flu, warned that the risk of a worldwide pandemic remained.
BF Ping.
The United States produces more bird flu-causing carbon dioxide than any other nation.
Oh, and this is Bush’s fault.
The Ah Choo family?
Since hillary killed the flu vaccine industry in the United States, this is certainly worrisome.
There was an article posted here a while back on the possible efficacy of vitamin D in protecting people against flu, and that might be something to keep in mind if this genie ever gets out of the bottle.
China has been the source of our annual flu epidemics for hundreds of years, because of their habit of living closely together with pigs and chickens, and will likely be the source of a bird flue pandemic if it ever happens.
I am glad it’s safely apprehended. That will teach it a lesson.
Yep, take it to the police.
Ping.
ping...(Thanks, blam!)
thanks for the ping. Something to keep an eye on, for sure.
We have more people dying from pneumonia each year than the bird flu. Whats the fuss?
IMHO, the bird flu deaths are more likely a result of inadequate or no medical treatment in those countries where it is occuring.......
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