China reports two human bird-flu cases (Xinhua/AP) Updated: 2005-11-16 21:16
China on Wednesday reported its first two confirmed
human cases and one suspected case of H5N1 bird flu as the government raced to
vaccinate billions of chickens, ducks and other poultry in a massive effort to
stop the spread of the virus.
The two confirmed cases involve a nine-year-old boy in Xiangtan County of
Hunan Province, central China, and a 24-year-old woman farmer in Zongyang County
of Anhui Province in the east.
Workers disinfect a road as villagers look on
at a checkpoint at Qitaizi Village, in Heishan, in China's northeast
Liaoning province Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2005. The village was the site of
one of four recent outbreaks of bird flu in Liaoning province. China
announced on Tuesday it would vaccinate its entire poultry stock of 14
billion birds in an effort to prevent further outbreaks of the bird flu
virus. [AP] |
Earlier Wednesday, the ministry said three human cases had been confirmed.
The boy surnamed He had fever and showed pneumonia-like symptoms on Oct. 10.
There was an outbreak of H5N1 bird flu occurred in his village.
Lab tests on the boy's blood serum samples show his H5 antibodies rose by
more than four times, which indicates that he was infected by the H5N1 bird flu
virus.
Based on clinical and lab tests, experts from the ministry and the World
Health Organization (WHO) confirmed the boy as a human case of H5N1 bird flu. He
was discharged from hospital on Nov. 12 after recovery.
The woman farmer in Anhui developed fever and pneumonia-like symptoms on Nov.
1 and died of prostration of breathing on Nov. 10. Chickens and ducks at her
home died one to two weeks before she fell ill and she had contacts with sick
and dead chickens and ducks, the ministry said.
Meanwhile, the boy's 12-year-old sister, who had similar symptoms as her
brother and died on Oct. 17, was reported as a suspected human case according to
WHO standards, said the ministry.
The experts from the ministry suspected the girl of being a human case of
H5N1 bird flu, but cannot confirm it by WHO standards due to insufficient
evidence from laboratory tests, according to the ministry.
Roy Wadia, WHO spokesman in Beijing, said that by WHO's strict definition,
the girl in Hunan could not be confirmed as a human case as the samples
collected from her were too limited.
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