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Suspect Bird Flu Cases In Turkey Grows to Fifteen
Recombinomics Commentary
January 4, 2006
There are eight patients currently receiving treatment at Van University Hospital. All of them are from the town of Dogubeyazıt, Agri, which was subsequently quarantined due to fears of a bird flu outbreak in the region.
Five other children are expected to be taken to Van hospital also on suspicion of having contracted the bird flu virus.
The above report, combined with additional media reports suggest the number of patients hospitalized with bird flu symptoms in Turkey may have grown to 15.
The initial 4 cases were siblings. One, Muhammed Ali Kocygit (14), has died and his two sisters, Fatima (15) and Hulya (11) are in critical condition. Additional hospitalized patients include
Ali Hasan Kocygit (6)
Yusuf Tunc (5)
Semra Topcu (35)
Davut Polat(5)
Hatice Ozkan (15)
Aysegul Ozkan (9)
Yusuf Ozkan (3)
In addition to the 10 patients listed above, the latest report suggests an additional 5 children are being transported to the hospital.
The most detailed descriptions are for the four siblings who had a fever, bleeding from the gums, and pneumonia after eating a chicken that had died in a region close to H5 confirmed cases. Moreover, 3 of the 4 siblings are either dead or in critical condition, again raising the possibility of H5N1 infections, even though initial testing was negative.
More information on the additional cases would be useful. If those cases are as severe as the 4 siblings, then it seems that an easily transmissible agent is circulating in eastern Turkey, and H5N1 will remain a possibility until an alternative etiological agent is identified.
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