 |
|
|
||
|
|
|
New human bird flu cases reported in Turkey, China, IndonesiaTuesday, January 10, 2006Meatingplace.com by Ann Bagel on 1/10/2006 for Meatingplace.com New human bird flu cases reported in Turkey, China, Indonesia by Ann Bagel on 1/10/2006 for Meatingplace.com The number of human cases of bird flu in Turkey had reached 15 as of Monday afternoon, thanks to five new cases reported by local authorities. The World Health Organization had yet to confirm most of the infections. Two siblings in the eastern city of Van died of the H5N1 strain last week, and a third sibling is believed to have died from the disease as well, although WHO test results are pending. Other human bird flu infections are surfacing in every part of Turkey except the west. The common factor appears to be that the areas are near wetlands on the paths of migratory birds, which have been transporting the disease. A WHO official said Turkish patients appear to be catching the virus from infected birds rather than from each other, although he added that the probability of human-to-human transmission grows with every new person who contracts the disease. New human cases in China, Indonesia Chinese authorities said local tests showed a 6-year-old boy hospitalized in the central province of Hunan had contracted the H5N1 strain of bird flu. An investigation found that poultry raised by the boy's family had died before the boy became ill. If WHO confirms the initial tests, the boy will be China's eighth reported human bird flu infection. In Indonesia, a 39-year-old man with a history of contact with poultry died of bird flu, according to preliminary tests. |