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.