Govt confirms human avian flu case

Govt confirms human avian flu case

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The country's first human case of avian flu has been reported,
with a poultry worker from South Sulawesi testing positive for
the virus that has killed 54 people in Southeast Asia, health
officials said on Thursday.

"One of the blood samples, taken from poultry workers in South
Sulawesi in areas that were recently hit by a bird flu outbreak,
came back positive," the Ministry of Health's director general
for disease control and environmental health I Nyoman Kandu told
The Jakarta Post.

The result was obtained from a reconfirmation test carried out
in a Hong Kong University laboratory, where an earlier test of
the same sample had produced a vague result.

Nyoman explained that the case could not be considered an
infection since the worker had not displayed the symptoms found
in people infected with the H5N1 virus. "He remains healthy," he
added.

The health ministry sent 81 samples to the laboratory taken
from five regencies in South Sulawesi after the recent bird flu
outbreak.

Local health agency head Muhadir reported last week that the
samples were taken from workers in Sidenreng Rappang, Pinrang,
Wajo, Maros and Soppeng regencies.

"Although only one sample came back positive, we do need to
intensify our surveillance," Nyoman said.

He also reminded workers to keep their bio-security standards
high by always wearing gloves and masks when working with
poultry, as well as disinfecting their hands after direct contact
with birds.

Indonesia saw its first outbreak of bird flu, which killed
millions of poultry, in early 2003. Its most recent outbreak
occurred in South Sulawesi earlier this year. The H5N1 virus
infecting poultry in the country was not considered highly
pathogenic.

Another type of avian flu that could infect humans hit the
Asian region in 2003, with a total of 54 people killed in
Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia. Almost every person infected by
bird flu is known to have caught the virus from contact with sick
birds.

Like the common influenza virus, avian flu can be transmitted
through air or through direct contact with infected individuals.
Therefore, people who are in direct contact with infected poultry
or who live near livestock-inhabited areas are considered prone
to infection.

Last month, the Ministry of Agriculture confirmed that it had
found a positive bird flu case in pigs in Banten province,
raising concerns that the deadly virus had come a step closer to
infecting humans in Indonesia.

The Indonesian Institute of Sciences' molecular virology
researcher, Andi Utama, said earlier that a new virus could
emerge if a pig was infected with the avian flu and human flu
viruses simultaneously. Although such a new virus has not been
found, it could be transmitted to humans.

Consumers of poultry and pork, however, are not at risk of
infection, provided they make sure that the meat is cooked at a
temperature of at least 80 degrees Celsius, since the avian flu
virus does not survive high temperatures.(003)