.
Extended Transmission Chains of H5N1 in Mus Turkey
Recombinomics Commentary
January 18, 2006
A family in Mus sick after eating a sick rooster. One dead, two at the hospital
After the father Abdullah Alkan (40) cut the animal 17 days ago, mother and the daughter have plucked and cooked the chicken
2 year old Berfin Alkan got sick afterwards
Berfin Alkan (2) passed away 15 days ago (2 days after eating the chicken), the eldest daughter Nese Alkin got sick a week later and she was taken to Mus State Hospital
She has been sent to Diyarbakir Hospital 2 days ago with BF suspicion. Her swabs are sent to Ankara. She is in Diyarbakir Hospital for 5 days now
Following all those incidents the 4 year old Huseyin Alkan developed high fever last night and the family is taken by ambulance to Mus State Hospital
The above translation of a suspected familial cluster in Mus, suggests two chains of human-to-human transmission within the Alkan family.
The time gap between disease onset dates strongly suggests that the 2 year-old infected the oldest sister, who the infected the 4 year-old.
The size of other clusters is also consistent with human-to-human transmission within families, but onset dates have been absent from WHO updates, as has relationships of confirmed cases with other confirmed or suspect cases.
The increased efficiency of transmission of H5N1 to humans in Turkey has been marked by the large number of cases, clusters, and size of clusters.
The above cluster, with disease onset dates, provides a clear example of human-to-human-to-human transmission of H5N1 in Turkey.
Map
Media Resources