Third H5N1 Confirmed Case in Northern Vietnam This Week
Recombinomics Commentary 16:16
February 14, 2008
The fifth patient, a 7-year-old from northern Hai Duong province is under treatment at the Central Paediatric Hospital .
The National Institute of Infectious and Tropical Diseases is now treating several other patients having bird flu symptoms while waiting for the H5N1 virus test results from the Central Institute of Epidemiology.
The above comments describe the confirmation of H5N1 in the third patient in northern Vietnam this week (see satellite map). There have been four previously confirmed cases since December, and all four have been fatal.
The current case extends the sudden jump in cases and the additional hospitalized patients suggest this jump may be extended further in the near term.
Earlier cases this week were linked to the recent purchase or slaughter of poultry in association with celebrations of the Tet New Year earlier this month. All of these cases have been in northern Vietnam, raising concerns of widespread distribution of H5N1 infected birds in the region.
These new infections are likely to be the Fujian strain (clade 2.3) and raise concerns of more efficient transmission of H5N1 to humans.
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