07 April 2006
Human Toll Rises with Avian Flu Deaths in Egypt, Cambodia
Scottish government confirms H5N1 in dead swan found in Fife
By Cheryl Pellerin
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- The ministries of health in Cambodia and Egypt each have confirmed the death of a young person infected with the H5N1 avian influenza virus, and a nonlethal infection in Egypt, and the Scottish government has confirmed H5N1 in a dead mute swan found in Fife, on Scotland’s east coast.
The most recent confirmations bring the total number of human avian influenza cases to 192, including 109 deaths, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Confirmation of H5N1 infection in Scotland brings to 53 the number of countries that have made official reports of bird flu in wild birds and poultry – and a cat on the island of Rügen in Germany in January – to the World Organisation for Animal Health since 2003.
AVIAN FLU IN EGYPT
The H5N1 avian flu infection announced April 6 by the Egyptian Ministry of Health is the country’s 11th human case, and the death is Egypt’s third.
An 18-year-old girl from the Minufiyah governorate, north of Cairo, developed symptoms March 29, was hospitalized April 5 and died April 6, according to WHO.
Tests conducted by the country’s Central Public Health Laboratory were positive for H5N1 infection.
The most recent nonlethal human H5N1 case is an 8-year-old boy from the Qaliubiya governorate near Cairo. He is hospitalized in stable condition.
In a pattern similar to that seen elsewhere, all cases have occurred in children and young adults, and all have a history of close contact with dead or diseased poultry.
AVIAN FLU IN CAMBODIA
Cambodia’s sixth case of human H5N1 infection, and also its sixth death, occurred in a 12-year-old boy from the southeastern province of Prey Veng, which borders Vietnam.
The boy developed symptoms of fever and headache March 29. He initially was treated at a private clinic, then hospitalized in Phnom Penh April 4. He died April 5. Samples from the boy tested positive for H5N1 infection at the Pasteur Institute in Cambodia.
A team from the Cambodian Ministry of Health, WHO and the Pasteur Institute investigated the situation in the child’s village April 5.
Many chicken deaths and some duck deaths had occurred in the neighborhood in recent weeks. The child reportedly gathered dead chickens for distribution to village families for consumption, according to WHO.
The investigative team identified 25 close contacts of the child. None yet shows signs of illness. House-to-house surveillance for signs of flu-like illness continues.
H5N1 ARRIVES IN SCOTLAND
The Scottish government confirmed April 6 that the first H5N1-infected swan had been found in the United Kingdom.
A joint statement from the United Kingdom and Scottish Chief Veterinary Officers, released April 6 by the U.K. Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), said tests from the Veterinary Laboratories Agency confirmed that a sample from the swan contained the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian flu virus.
According to news reports, tests are being conducted on another 17 birds from Scotland.
Scottish and U.K. officials said they urgently are assessing the veterinary risk and consulting ornithological experts to consider the circumstances of the case and determine the level of risk it may pose to poultry and other kept birds.
Scotland’s Environment Minister Ross Finnie met with the National Farmers Union (NFU) in Perth, Scotland, April 7 to discuss progress on measures to prevent the spread of the bird flu virus.
"Everybody's wish is that this disease never gets any further,” said NFU President John Kinnaird in a statement, “and never gets into our domestic poultry flocks."
He added that the poultry industry was “pulling together” with the Scottish government to minimize the disease’s potential impact.
The government has set up a protection zone around Cellardyke, Fife, where the swan was found, in which the movement of poultry and poultry products is restricted, and a surveillance zone in which farms are subject to heightened precautions.
A wild bird risk area also has been declared, in which bird keepers must take measures to separate domestic chickens, ducks and geese from wild birds.
For more information on the disease and efforts to combat it, see Bird Flu (Avian Influenza).
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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