Please note there is new information almost daily. For the most current and accurate information, visit www.pandemicflu.gov, and look under the heading "Monitoring Outbreaks". The USGS site (www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_information/avian_influenza/index.jsp) is very helpful in tracking current wildlife outbreaks and news stories. The WHO site (www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/) gives the most current and accurate lab confirmed human case and human death totals.
Current human death rate from the H5N1 strain is 55.2% (208 cases, 115 deaths). Djibouti reports its first human case in a 2 year old girl. Three of the child's siblings are under investigation for possible infection. Djibouti has limited resources and the World Health Organization is arranging urgent support for the country's investigation and surveillance efforts. Both Egypt and Indonesia have reported an additional case since our last report.
Good news! The flocks of migratory birds that winged their way south to Africa last autumn and then back over Europe in recent weeks did not carry the H5N1 flu virus or spread it during their annual journey, scientists have concluded, defying health officials' dire predictions. European officials are lifting policies that had citizens keeping all poultry indoors.
A study regarding the 2004 H5N1 outbreak in Thailand was published in the April 28, 2006 edition of the MMWR. The study determined that direct touching of unexpectedly dead poultry was the highest risk factor in human transmission of the virus. This was the first study that confirms the link between direct contact with ill or dead poultry and human cases of H5N1.
Nations With Confirmed Cases H5N1 Avian Influenza (May 12):
WHO Laboratory Confirmed H5N1 Human Cases As of 5/15/06
| Country | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | Total | |||||
| cases | deaths | cases | deaths | cases | deaths | cases | deaths | cases | deaths | |
| Azerbaijan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 5 |
| Cambodia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 6 |
| China | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 5 | 10 | 7 | 18 | 12 |
| Djibouti | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||||
| Egypt | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 5 | 13 | 5 |
| Indonesia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 11 | 16 | 14 | 33 | 25 |
| Iraq | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Thailand | 0 | 0 | 17 | 12 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 14 |
| Turkey | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 4 | 12 | 4 |
| Viet Nam | 3 | 3 | 29 | 20 | 61 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 93 | 42 |
| Total | 3 | 3 | 46 | 32 | 95 | 41 | 64 | 39 | 208 | 115 |
Total number of cases includes number of deaths.
WHO reports only laboratory-confirmed cases.