Indonesia: Ground Zero For Looming Pandemic?

With one-third (200 million) of the country's poultry population living in backyards it is not surprising to see Indonesia become a focus in the spread of bird flu. However, it is the emergence of familial clusters among humans that has got the attention of the international community with the World Health Organization pondering a global rise in the pandemic threat level.

Seven family members in the Sumatra province have died of bird flu despite being unable to find the H5N1 avian strain in the local bird population. The WHO sent in an additional team of scientists to inspect the cluster area and the reports coming in from that region indicate that we may be witnessing the first double or triple jump of human-to-human bird flu transmission.

It is a "definite possibility" that the virus jumped more than once inside a family cluster, said Maria Cheng, a spokeswoman for the WHO in Geneva. Although a second jump sounds alarming, "It doesn't look like the trend has changed," she said. "Each case was in very close contact with the previous one."

Thus far the WHO has maintained that there is still no evidence of a mutation in the bird flu strain while more testing continues. While a mutation would immediately be cause for global alarm there is growing concern that there are more familial clusters in Indonesia. Reporting from these regions are often plagued with incomplete facts and difficult translations, but the latest news out of Indonesia includes another possible familial cluster in Bandung, Indonesia.

"The handling doctor of RSHS bird flu, Polite said, was based on results x-rayed to casualties's lungs was seen by the existence of the swelling. The swelling like that was suffered by casualties, according to Polite, generally often was experienced by the sufferers of the bird flu illness. Casualties's body, Ai Tati, at this time still was buried in RSHS. In The Meantime, casualties's older brother, Ade Firman, his condition was increasingly critical."

The team of the doctor was forced to have to install the ventilator implement took the form of respiratory aids. The above translation describes a suspect H5N1 bird flu familial cluster in Bandung, Indonesia.. Additional media reports indicate a third sibling is being treated at home.

The WHO must now decide whether or not to raise the 'threat level' for a global pandemic. No word yet on when, or if that decision will be made.

Fear of ominous leap for bird flu [SF Chronicle]
Bird Flu Case May Be First Double Jump [NY Times]
2 ”Suspect” Flu Burung Meninggal [Pikiran Rakyat]
Suspect H5N1 Bird Flu Cluster in Bandung Indonesia [Reconbinomics]

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[ READER COMMENTS ]

1

Sherry said:

I am a health care worker, and we have had some training on the flu pandemic..all i can say is that we all need to be prepared and make sure to have enough water and canned food...It dosnt hurt to be prepared,because this pandemic will happen..

Posted at 07:49 PM, on June 12 2006

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Indonesia: Ground Zero For Looming Pandemic?

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