.
Over 50 Hospitalized Suspect H5N1Patients in Turkey
Recombinomics Commentary
January 7, 2006
The family traveled from Igdir, they had eaten a sick chicken, one of children has a suspicious lesion in the lungs .. Parents seem to be ok, rest of the children are sick in various degrees
Six children were also being tested for suspected bird flu in the city of Diyarbakir, hundreds of kilometres southwest of Dogubayazit.
The above comments on media stories describe 13 more patients admitted to hospitals in Istanbul and Diyarbakir. The family members had contact with birds in Igdir or Hilvan in Sanliurfa, where there have been reported H5N1 outbreaks in poultry. These 13 patients, along with more admissions to hospitals in eastern provinces, brings the total number of hospitalized patients to over 50.
Media reports also indicate that 7 patients in Van had bird flu symptoms that include bleeding from the throat, suggesting these are advanced cases. These descriptions are consistent with media reports indicating the initial admissions to Van had these symptoms. The early admissions in Van included members of the Ozkan family. This cluster of 10 people would be the largest cluster on record if H5N1 is confirmed.
The large number of cases and clusters are cause for concern.
.
Map
Media Resources