Current human death rate from the H5N1 strain is 59.0%% (251 cases, 148 deaths). One additional case has been retroactively confirmed from Iraq. The case is a 3 year old boy, who developed mild symptoms in March and has fully recovered. During the winter outbreak in Iraq, there were problems regarding the shipment of specimens to external testing facilities. The initial results of this case were inconclusive, probably due to sample deterioration. Repeated tests confirmed the case actually had H5N1 illness.
Thailand confirmed another case as well. The illness occurred in a 59-year-old male, who had been exposed to dying poultry. This case expired 8/10/06.
Three additional cases have been confirmed in Indonesia. Two of the cases were children, who had been exposed too ill poultry. Both cases were fatal. The other case was in a 20 year old male who expired 9/28/06. No other information has been released. In order to control the spread of human disease in Indonesia, education must take place. Residents continue to keep poultry as pets in their homes, regardless if the birds are ill or not.
There has been some encouraging news regarding flu vaccine studies. One study showed that experimental vaccines, based on live, weakened versions of different strains of the H5N1 virus, offered protection from the virus in mice and ferrets. Because they used various strains, it's believed that even if the H5N1 virus mutates, the vaccine would still offer some protection. This could mean a vaccine in humans could offer total or partial protection from the virus. Of course, this is just one small study and further analysis needs to be done.
Mallards in Maryland have been confirmed to carry a low pathogenic H5N1 virus. This particular virus is quite common among domestic flocks and poses no threat to human health and is unrelated to the dangerous H5N1 strain currently circulating in Southeast Asia.
WHO Laboratory Confirmed H5N1 Human Cases As of 9/28/06
| 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 | 12 | 8 | 21 | 14 |
| Djibouti | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Egypt | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 6 | 14 | 6 |
| Indonesia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 12 | 49 | 40 | 68 | 52 |
| Iraq | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Thailand | 0 | 0 | 17 | 12 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 25 | 17 |
| Turkey | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 4 | 12 | 4 |
| Viet Nam | 3 | 3 | 29 | 20 | 61 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 93 | 42 |
| Total | 4 | 4 | 46 | 32 | 97 | 42 | 99 | 70 | 251 | 148 |
Total number of cases includes number of deaths.
WHO reports only laboratory-confirmed cases.