Fergie's Tech Blog

H5N1 Update

One of my many fascinations in life has always been with extremely virulent disease outbreaks. I have no idea why the topic fascinates me so much, but I've always tracked killer viruses (e.g. Ebola, Marburg, etc.) and observed their initial appearance and subsequent spread in the global population.

And while this is not my normal tack on technology issues, I'll be providing updates every once in a while here on the blog regarding the Avian Influenza, or more specifically, H5N1.

Today the World Health Organization (WHO) has released an update on the Avian Flu, "Avian influenza – situation in Indonesia – update 33":

The Ministry of Health in Indonesia has confirmed another human case of H5N1 avian influenza. The patient, a 21-year-old man from Lampung, Sumatra, developed symptoms on 20 September and was hospitalized on 24 September. He remains hospitalized in a stable condition.

Confirmatory testing was conducted at a WHO reference laboratory in Hong Kong.

However, it appears that H5N1 may have appeared on Europe's doorstep. Debora MacKenzie writes in NewScientist:

Fears that H5N1 bird flu has reached Europe intensified this week with apparent outbreaks in Turkey and Romania.

It will not be clear for several days whether the outbreaks are avian influenza, and if so, whether it is the same H5N1 strain that has spread across east Asia and killed at least 60 people. But scientists caution that Europe’s free-range poultry could be putting the continent at risk.

A Romanian village in the Danube delta, which is a stopover for migratory birds from Asia, was quarantined after 36 birds died. Initial blood tests suggest the cause was bird flu, though this has not been confirmed.

A scientist from the UK’s Veterinary Laboratories Agency at Weybridge in Surrey is travelling to Romania to investigate, says VLA spokesman Matt Conway.

There have been outbreaks of bird flu across six provinces in central Russia, and in Kazakhstan, since July 2005. Several were confirmed as H5N1.

posted by Fergie @ 10/10/2005 09:05:00 AM