Please note there is new information almost daily. For the most current and accurate information, visit http://www.pandemicflu.gov, and look under the heading "Monitoring Outbreaks". The USGS site is very helpful in tracking current wildlife outbreaks and news stories. The WHO site gives the most current and accurate lab confirmed human case and human death totals.
Current human death rate from the H5N1 strain is 60.3% (267 cases, 161 deaths). The three newest cases are from Egypt and have been discussed thoroughly in the media. All three cases are members of an extended family and all have since died. The cases had known exposure to ill ducks. The most recent death occurred 12/27/06. Remaining healthy family members have been kept under observation for any signs or symptoms of illness (as of 12/27/06).
Breaking news: Five additional human cases of H5N1 infection have been WHO confirmed. Four of the cases are from Indonesia, are unrelated, had exposure to ill poultry. Three of the cases were fatal and the surviving case is the son one of the women who recently perished from H5N1. The other case is from China. The patient developed symptoms mid-December and has since fully recovered and is at home.
Vietnam is currently experiencing 2 outbreaks of H5H1 virus among domestic poultry. No poultry or human deaths have occurred in Vietnam since November 2005. Plans to cull exposed flocks and vaccinate others are under way.
On 1/2/07, the National Institutes for Health (NIH) announced:
The first human trial of a DNA vaccine designed to prevent H5N1 avian influenza infection began on December 21, 2006, when the vaccine was administered to the first volunteer at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Center in Bethesda, MD. Scientists from the Vaccine Research Center (VRC) at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), one of the NIH Institutes, designed the vaccine. The vaccine does not contain any infectious material from the influenza virus. Unlike conventional flu vaccines, which are developed by growing the influenza virus in hens' eggs and then administered as a weakened or killed form of the virus, DNA-based vaccines contain only portions of the influenza virus' genetic material. Once inside the body, the DNA instructs human cells to make proteins that act as a vaccine against the virus.
WHO Laboratory Confirmed H5N1 Human Cases As of 1/15/07
| Country | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | Total | ||||||
| cases | deaths | cases | deaths | cases | deaths | cases | deaths | cases | deaths | cases | deaths | |
| Azerbaijan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Cambodia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| China | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 5 | 12 | 8 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| Djibouti | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Egypt | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 10 |
| Indonesia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 12 | 56 | 46 | 4 | 3 | 79 | 61 |
| Iraq | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| Thailand | 0 | 0 | 17 | 12 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 17 |
| Turkey | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 4 |
| Viet Nam | 3 | 3 | 29 | 20 | 61 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 93 | 42 |
| Total | 4 | 4 | 46 | 32 | 97 | 42 | 114 | 79 | 4 | 3 | 267 | 161 |
Total number of cases includes number of deaths.
WHO reports only laboratory-confirmed cases.