Bird flu cases in family creates new concern

Bird flu cases in family creates new concern

Agencies, Jakarta

Doctors said on Thursday they suspected a father and son have
contracted bird flu in a case that prompted the minister of
health to warn of the possibility of human-to-human transmission
of the virus.

"Two adults, a man and his son, as well as an infant were
admitted yesterday (Wednesday) on suspicion of having contracted
bird flu," said Ilham Patu, a doctor at the Sulianti Saroso
hospital for infectious diseases in Jakarta.

Minister of Health Siti Fadilah Supari said the father and son
were the third cluster of related people suspected of having
contracted the bird flu virus since the first human case was
discovered in Indonesia earlier this year in South Sulawesi but
the man did not die.

The first fatalities were a father and his two daughters in
June this year outside of Jakarta. In another instance a woman
died, but her nephew survived and has since been declared free of
the virus. In the latest cluster of cases, the infant was not
related to the father and son.

"This is still a very limited number of cluster cases, but if
they become more widespread, human-to-human infection could be
suspected," Siti told AFP.

"It is just a worry that does not have a (scientific) basis
yet. What is certain is that we need to improve environmental
hygiene to prevent the spread of the disease in a particular
communities," she said.

The government has confirmed three deaths from bird flu, based
on local tests and confirmation from World Health Organization
(WHO) facilities in Hong Kong. At least six more people have died
of suspected cases of the deadly H5N1 virus, but they are not
officially listed as avian influenza victims.

Indonesia has another two confirmed bird flu patients who are
still alive, while there have been more than 85 suspected cases.

At least 60 people have died from bird flu in the Southeast
Asia region since 2003, the majority of them in Vietnam.

WHO fears that the current H5N1 virus may mutate, acquiring
genes from the human influenza virus that would make it highly
infectious and lethal -- possibly killing millions worldwide as
was the case with the influenza pandemic of 1918.

Russia, China and Romania have all confirmed new outbreaks of
H5N1 this week, fueling fears of a growing pandemic.

Elsewhere, Siti was quoted by Associated Press as saying that
Indonesia, as of Thursday, had a stock of 700,000 capsules of the
anti-viral drug oseltamivir, known commercially as Tamiflu, the
only treatment so far proven to be somewhat effective against
bird flu in humans.

She said the medicine - which according to the distributor is
enough to treat 70,000 people - had been provided by donor
countries and agencies.