New Avian Outbreak in Vietnam

December 31 2004

A 16 year old Vietamese girl is critically ill in hospital with Pneumonia after contracting Avian Flu from a chicken she had killed.

So far out of the 29 confirmed cases in Vietnam, 20 have been fatalities from the respiratory disease.

The girl, from the southern Mekong River Delta, is believed to have bought the chicken to her uncles in a neighbouring province. The uncles family have no sign of the disease.

Avian flu, which is an RNA virus is similiar in composition to Influenza A strain and scientist have predicted that it will evolve and mutate into a strain that is easily spread by humans. All it will take is for a person infected with influenza A strain to contract the avian flu and the virus will cross genes causing a new superflu, with the fatality of the avian flu and the spreadability of Influenza A.

Human to Human contamination was evidenced in Thailand earlier this year with a woman contracting the disease and subsequently dying of lung complications after nursing her sister and daughter up to their deaths with the disease. While her daughter and sister had contact with dead chickens, the woman herself had no known contact with Birds.

Avian Flu Test samples have also found to be positive in a duck Breeding farm in Korea earlier this month. The sub strain found on the duck farm is not as easily spread as the strains that have caused so many fatalities in Thailand and Vietnam this year alone.



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