WHO Raises Specter of Human Bird Flu Transmission

The World Health Organization (WHO) has raised the specter of human-to-human transmission of deadly avian influenza following confirmation that two Vietnamese brothers had contracted the virus and one had died. The WHO confirmed that laboratory results had found the two brothers from northern Vietnam had been infected with the H5N1 avian influenza virus. The older one, a 47-year-old, had died on Jan 9. The younger one, 42, was recovering. The WHO said the younger brother was known to have provided bedside care for his sibling. But it said transmission might also have occurred during a family meal when raw duck products were eaten. The WHO said it had not confirmed media reports that a third brother had been hospitalized with flu symptoms but it said limited transmission of the virus between people could be expected. “All evidence to date suggests that isolated instances of limited, unsustained human-to-human transmission can be expected from avian influenza viruses in humans,” the WHO said in a statement seen on Saturday. “Their occurrence does not call for any change in the present level of pandemic alert,” it said. The virus is known to have killed 27 people in Vietnam and 12 in Thailand over the past year. What the WHO fears most is that the virus could mutate if it infected a person sick with ordinary flu, or got into an animal hosting a human flu virus, such as a pig. If the H5N1 were to merge with a human flu virus, it could produce a strain capable of sweeping through a human population without immunity, possibly killing millions worldwide. Seven of Vietnam’s 27 deaths have occurred in the last three weeks and media said on Saturday doctors were doing tests to determine if a woman who died on Friday in Ho Chi Minh City in the south also had the virus. Tests were also being conducted on a teenage boy from Bac Lieu province who had died, reports said. Southern Vietnam’s bird flu test center, the Ho Chi Minh City Pasteur Institute, dismissed reports confirming the two suspected cases had been confirmed as bird flu. “The test results on the two deaths are not affirmative, not clear yet,” institute director Nguyen Thi Kim Tien told Reuters, adding that more tests were being done. In the case of the two brothers, the WHO said transmission might have been poultry-to-human. It said preliminary findings pointed to a family meal in which a dish containing raw duck blood and organs was served. “As a precautionary measure, similar culinary practices involving dishes containing raw poultry parts or organs should be avoided in all countries experiencing outbreaks,” the WHO said. The WHO warned on Thursday that the bird flu virus was now endemic in Asia and it appeared to be evolving in ways that increasingly favored the start of a deadly human outbreak. It had become “hardier,” surviving several days longer in the environment, and evidence also suggested that it was expanding its range of mammal hosts, including captive tigers and experimentally infected domestic cats, it said.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has raised the specter of human-to-human transmission of deadly avian influenza following confirmation that two Vietnamese brothers had contracted the virus and one had died.The WHO confirmed that laboratory results had found the two brothers from northern Vietnam had been infected with the H5N1 avian influenza virus. The older one, a 47-year-old, had died on Jan 9. The younger one, 42, was recovering.The WHO said the younger brother was known to have provided bedside care for his sibling. But it said transmission might also have occurred during a family meal when raw duck products were eaten.The WHO said it had not confirmed media reports that a third brother had been hospitalized with flu symptoms but it said limited transmission of the virus between people could be expected.”All evidence to date suggests that isolated instances of limited, unsustained human-to-human transmission can be expected from avian influenza viruses in humans,” the WHO said in a statement seen on Saturday.”Their occurrence does not call for any change in the present level of pandemic alert,” it said.The virus is known to have killed 27 people in Vietnam and 12 in Thailand over the past year.What the WHO fears most is that the virus could mutate if it infected a person sick with ordinary flu, or got into an animal hosting a human flu virus, such as a pig.If the H5N1 were to merge with a human flu virus, it could produce a strain capable of sweeping through a human population without immunity, possibly killing millions worldwide.Seven of Vietnam’s 27 deaths have occurred in the last three weeks and media said on Saturday doctors were doing tests to determine if a woman who died on Friday in Ho Chi Minh City in the south also had the virus.Tests were also being conducted on a teenage boy from Bac Lieu province who had died, reports said.Southern Vietnam’s bird flu test center, the Ho Chi Minh City Pasteur Institute, dismissed reports confirming the two suspected cases had been confirmed as bird flu.”The test results on the two deaths are not affirmative, not clear yet,” institute director Nguyen Thi Kim Tien told Reuters, adding that more tests were being done.In the case of the two brothers, the WHO said transmission might have been poultry-to-human. It said preliminary findings pointed to a family meal in which a dish containing raw duck blood and organs was served.”As a precautionary measure, similar culinary practices involving dishes containing raw poultry parts or organs should be avoided in all countries experiencing outbreaks,” the WHO said.The WHO warned on Thursday that the bird flu virus was now endemic in Asia and it appeared to be evolving in ways that increasingly favored the start of a deadly human outbreak.It had become “hardier,” surviving several days longer in the environment, and evidence also suggested that it was expanding its range of mammal hosts, including captive tigers and experimentally infected domestic cats, it said. (Source: Reuters Health, January 2005)