H5N1 Update
First human
case of bird flu in Cairo
.
In Egypt the number of
people to test positive for
the bird flu virus – H5N1 –
has risen to
34, 14 of whom
have died, (as of 16 April
2007), Egyptian health officials
confirmed.
The latest four cases
include:
- A 15-year-old girl from Shubra district in Cairo
developed symptoms on 30
March. She was hospitalised
on 5 April and died on 10
April. Hers is the first
confirmed human infection
of H5N1 in the capital, Cairo.
- A 4-year-old boy from Qena in the Nile Valley
developed bird flu symptoms
on 26 March and was
hospitalised three days later.
He is brother to a 6-year-old
girl who was recently
infected.
- A 7-year-old boy from Sohag, 470km south of
Cairo, became ill on 26
March and was hospitalised
three days later.
- A 4-year-old girl from Qalubiea became ill on 29
March and was hospitalised
the following day.
All of the patients were in a
stable and improving condition
(as of 4 April), Dr Amr
Kandeel, director of the
Communicable Disease
Control Department at the
health ministry, told IRIN
News.
The first case of H5N1
infection in humans in
Egypt was registered in
March 2006. The country
accounts for the largest
number avian flu cases
infecting humans outside
Asia, where most cases have
been reported.
Incidences of avian flu in
humans are typically treated
in Egypt with the antiviral
drug Tamiflu. Health officials stress that the
treatment’s success is
highest if the patient
reports the illness as
soon as symptoms
emerge.
Egypt launched a
major campaign to
vaccinate ‘backyard
birds’, the most
common route of
transmission of
avian flu from
animals to humans,
earlier this year,
along with increased
efforts to make the
public aware of the
risks of keeping
poultry in their
homes. Although
cases continue to be
reported, the
campaign appears to
be limiting fatalities.
“Our cure rate is
improving.
All of these
[recent] cases came to
hospital within 48 hours [of
noticing symptoms], so we
can say that public awareness
is improving,” said Dr Kandeel.
Meanwhile, in March, the
Egyptian Government
announced they were
working on new legislation
that would restrict the
movement of live poultry.
The new law would involve
the creation of four zones
with 10-15km buffers
between them. In an effort
to contain any potential
spread of the virus, no-one
will be allowed to move
birds or chicks between the
zones.
“The legislation has
already been presented to
Parliament for approval. It
puts restrictions on the
trade of live poultry and
imposes fines on those who
violate it by moving birds from one city to another,”
Dr Nasr al-Sayyed, First
Undersecretary for the
Preventive Sector at the
Ministry of Health, said
according to a 13 March
IRIN News report.
The
report said the legislation
was expected to be in place
in a few weeks.
Al-Sayyed said that the
legislation will aim to change
the mentality of buying live
poultry in Egypt and
encourage the consumption
of frozen birds.
“We are targeting people
who live in urban areas
because we understand the
difficulty of changing the
practices of the rural
community. It is difficult
to convince people living
in villages to give up
breeding birds at home and
to buy frozen birds
instead,” he said.
Afghanistan
Meanwhile, in Afghanistan,
health ministry officials
reported several new cases
of bird flu in March in wild
birds in the capital Kabul
and the southern province
of Kandahar.
More than 20
cases have been confirmed
in the country since
February, many in the
eastern provinces of Nangarhar and Kunar.
Officials in Kabul say that
insecurity is impeding their
efforts to curb the spread of
the virus, particularly in
Shah Wali Kot district,
where insurgents have
repeatedly attacked government
employees, according
to an IRIN News report.
The WHO in Afghanistan
has called on people in
Kabul, Nangarhar and
Kunar provinces to avoid
live bird markets.
Saudi Arabia
And in Saudi Arabia Hamad
Al-Manie, the Minister of
Health, said (15 April) that
the small number of bird
flu cases among migratory
birds reported in March
had been totally eliminated.
“It has been totally eliminated.
It concerned only a
small number of migratory
birds that were crossing the
kingdom’s borders,” he told
Arab News.
Kuwait
The government culled
some 1.7 million birds
following outbreak of H5N1
among poultry in late
February and March.
It is also recently
reported that five falcons
out of some 3,000 that
were tested were confirmed
to have H5N1.
