World Health Organization (WHO) officials are investigating the recent deaths of seven members of one family in Sumatra, in an effort to determine
whether the disease was spread by human-to-human contact. Although they have found no indication that the H5N1 virus has mutated, there also seems to
be no diseased poultry in the area.
news.bbc.co.uk
The World Health Organization (WHO) says it is extremely worried about a cluster of recent human deaths from the virulent H5N1 strain of bird flu.
Seven people from the same family in northern Sumatra, Indonesia, died from the disease earlier this month.
The H5N1 virus has already killed more than 120 people worldwide since 2003. It has also devastated poultry stocks.
Almost all human infections so far are thought to have been caused by direct contact with sick poultry.
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This may just be a case of one family member handling (or eating) infected poultry from a different area, then bringing the disease home to be spread
by close contact. Or it may be the first sign that the disease is able to spread purely via human hosts. Let's hope it's the former and not the
latter.
[edit on 24-5-2006 by UM_Gazz]
[edit on 24-5-2006 by DontTreadOnMe]
