Another Suspect H5N1 Case in Balurghat South Dinajpur
Recombinomics Commentary 22:44
January 31, 2008
Panic broke out at Mangalpur More, Jogomaya Para in Balurghat today, over the illness of a 17-year-old girl. The victim, Ms Priyanka Malakar has been admitted to the Balurghat Hospital with breathing trouble, high fever and rashes all over her body her body.
Admitting the matter, the CMOH, South Dinajpur Mr BB Mahapatra said that the symptoms were similar to human flu and measles
The above comments describe another suspect H5N1 victim in Balurghat, South Dinajpur, the site of one of the first confirmed bid flu outbreaks in West Bengal (see satellite map here and here). It is one of the first suspect case involving breathing difficulties, a symptom of a lower respiratory infection due to H5N1.
The story does not mention exposure to poultry, but H5N1 infections of poultry, wild birds, and other carnivores are common in West Bengal and Bangladesh. Balurghat is on the West Bengal, Bangladesh border. H5N1 has also been confirmed across the border in Rajshai, Bangladesh in crows and ducks.
More information on exposures and test results, including pneumonia, would be useful.
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