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H5N1 Bird Flu Cases in Jakarta Indonesia Grows to Six
Recombinomics Commentary
July 25, 2005
Two Indonesians have been admitted to hospital for developing bird flu symptoms in the town of Tangerang, where three people died recently from bird flu, local media reports said Monday.
One of the patients, a photographer for a local magazine, has just visited a poultry farming where bird flu killed 750 chickens and he was sent to hospital last Friday for suffering high fever and respiratory problems, reported the Detikcom online news service.
The two suspected H5N1 bird flu cases increases the Indonesian total to six. The first four confirmed or suspect cases were fatal. The above case is the first case of human symptoms linked to H5N1 infected poultry. No connection was described for the first four cases, although two of the first four were probably infected by family members in the 3 member familial cluster.
The rapid appearance of six cases, which appear to involve casual or no connection to poultry, raises the possibility of novel transmission of a highly fatal version of H5N1. All six cases have been geographically linked to Tangerang, a suburb of Jakarta where H5N1 infected pigs were identified.
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