Reply #113: Bird flu pandemic feared....another article dealing with possible [View All]

[RedEarth]

human to human transmission......

Bird flu pandemic feared
Officials study possible case of human-to-human transmission

Sharon Kirkey and Mark Kennedy
CanWest News Service


March 8, 2005

OTTAWA -- The first possible human-to-human transmission of bird flu between two unrelated people has raised the spectre the lethal virus could be changing to become more easily spread between humans, a Canadian influenza expert warns.

A 26-year-old male nurse from northern Vietnam who provided bedside care for a 21-year-old bird flu patient now in critical condition has himself tested positive for H5N1 avian influenza, according to media reports from the region.

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A spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO) said in an interview Monday that the international agency is watching the case closely to determine if it has the potential to spawn a global influenza pandemic.

In a phone interview from the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Dick Thompson said experts have now begun work in Vietnam to confirm that the nurse has the H5N1 strain. As well, Thompson said a comprehensive analysis is being conducted to see if anyone else in the hospital where the nurse worked has had the flu.

Thompson said health officials would clearly be more concerned if it is determined the nurse was infected from another human -- as opposed to from a bird. For months, public health officials have warned of the danger of H5N1 emerging among health-care workers, particularly if it leads to a "cluster" of cases that would then be difficult to control.

http://www.canada.com/saskatoon/starphoenix/news/story.html?id=5d70053f-2003-415f-a55d-8a9dcd4d5cb8