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Death Toll From Mysterious Illness Jumps to 31 In Sichuan China
Recombinomics Commentary
July 25, 2005
1 - 58 cases and 17 deaths
In reality, 219 people have been quarantined, 113 checked / examined / tested, 67 symptomatic cases, 23 suspected cases, 12 confirmed cases, 31 fatalities, 17 of whom died in hospital, the remaining 14 died elsewhere. Puzzling how these figures got turned into the number officially released.
(Abundant news boxun.com)
The above translation of a recent boxun report indicates the human death toll in Sichuan province associated with Ebola-like symptoms is 31. Other reports from China indicate several pigs are dying daily, as are other livestock. The area has been quarantined and reporters are told of a swine bacterial infection. However, the high case fatality rate in humans has not been previously described for the swine bacterial infection.
Boxun reports indicate that the etiological agent is a strain of Ebola identified in Shenzen province in April. It has been designated EB-SZ77. Ebola that can infect poultry, pigs, and humans is cause for concern because of circulation H5N1 bird flu which can infect all three species. The Ebola env gene has a short region of homology with H5 in H5N1, raising concerns of additional recombination.
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