Second Suspect H5N1 Cluster in Jakarta
Recombinomics Commentary
January 11, 2007
The 37-year-old woman, who tested positive for the H5N1 strain of avian influenza two days ago, remains in critical condition at Persahabatan Hospital in Jakarta, Mukhtar Ikhsan, a doctor at the hospital, said today.
Her 42-year-old husband and their 18-year-old son have symptoms of fever and respiratory infection, and are being tested for H5N1.
``They're showing symptoms similar to bird flu and we must remain vigilant,'' Ikhsan said in a telephone interview. Tests for H5N1 are also being run on two other people receiving treatment at the hospital, he said.
The above comments describe another suspect H5N1 bird flu cluster in the Jakarta area. Recently there were two confirmed cases and relatives and contacts of both cases have been hospitalized with symptoms.
The first case (14M) has died, and initial tests on hospitalized relatives and neighbors have been negative. The above patient (37F) is in the same hospital and her relatives are being tested. As indicated above, two other people are being treated with Tamiflu and being tested.
This explosion of confirmed and suspect cases is not limited to the Tangerang region to the west of Jakarta. A large cluster of 20 suspect cases has been reported in Bogor, south of Jakarta, where there have been prior confirmed cases. Another suspect cluster has also been reported in southern Sumatra.
Dead ducks linked to the recent H5N1 fatality have also tested positive for H5N1. The amount of wild bird testing in Indonesia has been limited, and matches between human and bird H5N1 sequences have been poor. The only bird isolate from Java that has the novel H5N1 cleavage site, RESRRKKR, has been from a duck in Indramayu, isolated in January, 2006.
More details on the sequences from patients and ducks would be useful.
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