Posted on 04/21/2008 3:29:15 PM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
Soldier may have first human case of bird flu here
April 22, 2008
A soldier who helped slaughter poultry infected with avian influenza might have the first human case of the disease in Korea, the Health Ministry said yesterday. “The soldier slaughtered poultry on Friday and Saturday, and his symptoms meet the criteria of a suspected avian influenza patient under the World Health Organization manual,” the ministry said in a release. “His condition, however, is close to that of a bacterial pneumonia patient, so we are closely monitoring him.”
The ministry quoted the Center for Disease Control and Prevention as saying a soldier had respiratory complications after killing infected chickens and ducks last week.
The soldier is being treated and monitored in a quarantine ward. The ministry said tests are being conducted and it will take one to three weeks for a final confirmation.
Since April 1, the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Forestry has confirmed dozens of outbreaks of the highly contagious strain of the virus called H5N1, which is capable of infecting humans. Most outbreaks have been in South and North Jeolla.
The first H5N1 outbreak occurred in Korea in 2003, but there has never been a confirmed human case here. The virus has killed 207 people in 12 other countries since November 2007, according to World Health Organization data.
The release said the soldier’s condition improved after he received antibiotics and that everyone who had contact with him were also given medicine and will be monitored for 10 days. The ministry issued the statement following a story in yesterday’s editions of the Seoul Shinmun, a daily newspaper, which reported that a 22-year-old corporal in Sunchang, North Jeolla, may have gotten avian influenza.
Quoting a government report, the newspaper identified the corporal only by his family name, Cho. After returning to his base after the culling, Cho developed a high fever starting on Sunday and was transported to the Army Hospital in Seongnam, the report said.
“Cho’s temperature went up to 39.8 degrees Celsius [103.6 F] and he fell unconscious, so we suspected it was an avian influenza infection,” Capt. Wi Seong-hyeon of Cho’s unit told the newspaper. “We transported him to the army hospital and reported the case to the Sunchang health authorities.”
The ministry later denied that the soldier in question became unconscious.
By Ser Myo-ja Staff Reporter [myoja@joongang.co.kr]
Ping!
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