A Sixth Suspect Bird Flu Case in Mekong Delta
Recombinomics Commentary
January 8, 2005
>>Another state-run newspaper, Tuoi Tre reports that a further two suspected bird flu patients, an 18-year-old girl and a 65-year-old man, are being treated.
Both are from Tien Giang in the south and are being treated in Ho Chi Minh City's Hospital for Tropical Diseases.
The country is implementing drastic measures to prevent bird flu spreading, especially in the Mekong river delta provinces.
At least 29,000 birds have been culled in Vietnam since December to try to contain the disease, according to local officials.<<
The 65 year old male suspect case would extend the number of confirmed or suspect bird flu cases to six. He would also extend the number of cases in Tien Giang to two and the more recent cluster to four. The more recent cluster would include the 9 year old male who died on January 4 as well as the 14 year old male from Trah Vihn and the 18 year old female and 65 yer old male from adjacent Tien Giang.
At this time, only the three earliest cases have been laboratory confirmed positives for H5N1. The 14 year old boy from Trah Vihn and the two cases from adjacent Tien Giang are only suspect cases.
The two clusters are on opposite sides of the cluster of ducks in the area of Can Tho city. Almost half of the ducks tested have been positive for H5N1 avian influenza. The ducks, as well as the six confirmed or suspect cases are all in the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam.
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