Second H5 Confirmed in Patient in Laos Dies
Recombinomics Commentary
March 4, 2007
A 42-year-old Laos woman believed to have contracted the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus died in hospital in the capital Vientiane on Sunday, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
"The patient passed away at approximately 14:30 today," the WHO said in statement issued jointly with the Laos health ministry.
Tests had showed the woman had H5 bird flu, but the authorities were still waiting for further results to determine whether it was the H5N1 strain.
The above comments describe the first reported H5N1 fatality in Laos. Although the N1 data has not been released, there is no doubt that the patient died from H5N1. The index case for the country has been H5N1 confirmed, and was recently infected in another Vientiane suburb.
The two cases in Laos suggest more cases are in the area. Vientiane is on the border with Thailand, and both Laos and Thailand have reported H5N1 in poultry in the region.
Similarly, new H5N1 outbreaks have been reported in Myanmar and Vietnam, raising additional concerns over unreported human cases in all countries in the area.
More sequence information n the two human cases in Laos would be useful. The H5N1 in neighboring Thailand is the Fujian strain (Clade 2.3).
Media sources
Phylogenetic Trees