What's New with the Bird Flu?

Current human death rate from the H5N1 strain is 60.3% (317 cases, 191 deaths). Vietnam reports 2 additional human cases of H5N1. These are the first cases reported in Vietnam since November, 2005. The first case is a 29 year old male who became ill after slaughtering poultry for a wedding. He was hospitalized and has since been discharged. The second case is a 19 year old male who was also slaughtering poultry. He remains hospitalized in stable condition. These human cases have coincided with a large number of new poultry outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza reported in Vietnam during May and June this year.

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Current human death rate from the H5N1 strain is 60.6% (315 cases, 191 deaths). Egypt reports three additional human cases and 1 fatality from H5N1. The first case is a 10 year old girl, who died June 9. The initial investigation reveals known exposure to dead poultry. Egypt also reports a human case in a 4 year old girl, who remains hospitalized in stable condition.

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Current human death rate from the H5N1 strain is 60.4% (308 cases, 186 deaths). Indonesia reports the newest confirmed case and subsequent human death from H5N1. This latest case is a 5 year old girl from the Central Java Province. Initial reports indicate that the girl had been exposed to dead poultry.

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Current human death rate from the H5N1 strain is 60.4% (308 cases, 186 deaths). Indonesia reports the newest confirmed case and subsequent human death from H5N1. This latest case is a 5 year old girl from the Central Java Province. Initial reports indicate that the girl had been exposed to dead poultry.

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Current human death rate from the H5N1 strain is 60.5%(306 cases, 185 deaths). Fifteen cases from Indonesia have been retroactively confirmed by WHO. These cases date from January through May 2007. Thirteen of the 15 cases resulted in death.

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Current human death rate from the H5N1 strain is 59.1% (291 cases, 172 deaths). Three additional cases have been recorded since the beginning of April. The first case resulted in the death of a thirteen year old girl from Cambodia. This is the first human case reported from Cambodia for 2007. The village in which this case lived had known ill flocks of poultry and the girl had consumed a sick bird prior to her illness.

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Current human death rate from the H5N1 strain is 59.0% (288 cases, 170 deaths). Six additional human cases in Egypt have been discovered. A three year old girl, who became ill on 3/20/07 is from the same province as the 2 human cases reported last week; however, no epidemiological connection has been made to link the cases. Two cases are siblings from the Qena Governorate, a boy and girl, with known exposure to ill poultry. The remaining 3 cases are also children, with known exposure to ill poultry. Contacts of cases are being monitored for any signs or symptoms of illness.

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Current human death rate from the H5N1 strain is 60.1% (281 cases, 169 deaths). Two additional human cases in Egypt have been discovered. Both are unrelated young girls who remain hospitalized in stable condition. Both girls had exposure to ill poultry in their homes. The 23rd human case in China has also been diagnosed in a 44 year old woman, who remains in critical condition in a Chinese hospital. The woman is a farmer with known exposure to birds.

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Current human death rate from the H5N1 strain is 60.6% (277 cases, 168 deaths). An additional human case in Egypt has been discovered in a 5 year old girl, who remains hospitalized in stable condition. The girl was exposed to sick birds 1 week prior to her illness. All contacts are being monitored and have remained healthy. The 23rd human case in China has also been diagnosed in a 44 year old woman, who remains in critical condition in a Chinese hospital. The woman is a farmer with known exposure to birds.

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Current human death rate from the H5N1 strain is 60.8% (273 cases, 166 deaths). The Nigerian case of the 22 year old has been confirmed as having H5N1. We had previously reported that this case and the mother of the case were suspect cases. WHO is working to identify the source of this case’s infection. Nigeria has previously reported H5N1 outbreaks in poultry. An additional human death was discovered in Egypt as well. The 17 year old had known exposure to ill poultry in the home. Egypt also reported another case who remains in stable condition. This case had slaughtered and de-feathered ill poultry prior to becoming ill.

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Current human death rate from the H5N1 strain is 60.8% (273 cases, 166 deaths). The Nigerian case of the 22 year old has been confirmed as having H5N1. We had previously reported that this case and the mother of the case were suspect cases. WHO is working to identify the source of this case’s infection. Nigeria has previously reported H5N1 outbreaks in poultry. An additional human death was discovered in Egypt as well. The 17 year old had known exposure to ill poultry in the home. Egypt also reported another case who remains in stable condition. This case had slaughtered and de-feathered ill poultry prior to becoming ill.

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Current human death rate from the H5N1 strain is 60.7% (270 cases, 164 deaths). There have been three additional human cases, one in Egypt and two in Indonesia. All were young women with known exposure to ill poultry and both cases were fatal. The WHO is currently investigating 2 suspect cases in Nigeria. The cases are related and samples were only taken from 1 of them. Confirmatory testing results should become available soon.

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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.

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Current human death rate from the H5N1 strain is 60.1% (261 cases, 157 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.

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Current human death rate from the H5N1 strain is 59.7% (258 cases, 154 deaths). Two additional death has been confirmed in Indonesia. One of the cases reported 11/13/06 is a 35 year old female who developed symptoms 11/7/06. She died 11/28/06 while hospitalized.

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Current human death rate from the H5N1 strain is 59.0% (259 cases, 153 deaths).  Two additional cases have been confirmed in Indonesia. One of the cases is a 35 year old female who developed symptoms 11/7/06. She remains hospitalized and the source of her infection is currently being investigated. The second case was a 2 1/2 year old male who died 11/13/06. The case had contact with dead chickens that were located near the family home.

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Current human death rate from the H5N1 strain is 59.1% (257 cases, 152 deaths).  The newest case is a 39 year old woman from Egypt who died 10/30/06. Details regarding her poultry exposure were unknown at the time of this update.

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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.

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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.

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Current human death rate from the H5N1 strain is 58.6% (244 cases, 143 deaths). Five additional human cases have come from Indonesia. One is new, 4 are retroactive due to change in case definition. One of the retroactive cases had no known exposure to poultry.

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Current human death rate from the H5N1 strain is 58.8% (240 cases, 141 deaths). There have been 4 additional human cases of H5N1 in Indonesia. All have been linked to diseased poultry. An additional case in China was discovered in a 62 year old farmer with no known travel history. Poultry outbreaks had not been discovered in the farmer's area and an epidemiological investigation is still underway.

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Current human death rate from the H5N1 strain is 58.5% (236 cases, 138 deaths). Four additional cases have been reported since the last update. Two of the four new cases are from Indonesia. One of the cases was a 16 year old male from the West Java Province, with known exposure to H5 positive birds. The second case was a 17 year old female from the Jakarta province. An investigation into her source of infection found that pet pigeons were kept inside her home and that several neighboring households maintained flocks of backyard poultry.

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Current human death rate from the H5N1 strain is 57.7% (232 cases, 134 deaths). Two additional cases have been reported since the last update. One case occurred in a 44 year old man from East Jakarta in Indonesia. Source of infection is unknown but he did work as a stall owner in a wet market and had poultry around his home. Samples have been taken and results are pending. This is the 54th case of human H5N1 in Indonesia this year.

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Current human death rate from the H5N1 strain is 57.4% (230 cases, 132 deaths). Two additional cases have been reported in Indonesia since the last newsletter. One of the cases occurred in a 5 year old boy. He died June 16. His home was known to have ill poultry and H5N1 flocks have been confirmed. The other case occurred in a 3 year old girl who had handled ill birds. She died July 5. Of the 53 confirmed human cases in Indonesia, 41 have been fatal.

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Current human death rate from the H5N1 strain is 57.0% (228 cases, 130 deaths). The newest case was found in a 13 year old boy who was slaughtering diseased chickens with his grandfather, who is not ill. A new case was diagnosed in China, as well. This case is a 31 year old truck driver who lives in a region not previously linked to the disease. The case was known to visit markets where live birds are sold.

he WHO released a full Epidemiological analysis done on the first 205 lab confirmed H5N1 cases, whose onset began between December 2003 and April 30, 2006

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Current human death rate from the H5N1 strain is 57.0% (226 cases, 129 deaths). The 50th human case of illness in Indonesia was recently reported. This latest case occurred in a 7 year-old girl, whose home had been affiliated with sick and dying chickens. Her brother also died from respiratory symptoms, but because no samples were taken, H5N1 could not be confirmed. The virus is considered firmly entrenched in poultry throughout most of Indonesia. The WHO warns that unless this situation is controlled, sporadic human cases are likely to continue. WHO is urging that Indonesia launch public awareness campaigns in order to educate the public on the dangers of preparing, touching, and eating sick or dead birds . . .

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Current human death rate from the H5N1 strain is 56.7% (224 cases, 127 deaths). Both Egypt and Indonesia report additional avian influenza cases. Indonesia reports an additional 15 cases since our last report; 7 of which are from a family cluster. WHO reports: . . .

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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.

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Current human death rate from the H5N1 strain is 55.1% (205 cases, 113 deaths). Egypt has reported an additional 8 cases and 2 deaths since the last report. China reports the most recent case on 4/27/06 on an 8-year-old girl from the southwest province of Sichuan. Recent poultry deaths had occurred in the area.

Preliminary reports indicate strain has spread to birds in Russia's Far East region, edging closer to Alaska. This has not been laboratory confirmed yet. Scientists say this could be due to spring migratory patterns and an unusually warm winter in Russia.

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Current human death rate from the H5N1 strain is 56.2% (194 cases, 109 deaths). Egypt is the newest nation to report human cases, with 4 laboratory confirmed cases and 2 resulting deaths announced April 3, 2006. The attached chart from the WHO shows that the nations of Azerbaijan, Cambodia, and Indonesia have had new confirmed cases as well.

Bird surveillance indicates that flocks of swans in Poland and in the Czech Republic have been culled after finding the H5N1 virus in several flocks. The first wild birds to test positive in the UK were discovered in Scotland in early April. Experts fear it won't be long until the strain is found in wild birds in the Western Hemisphere

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Current human death rate sits at 56.4% (186 cases, 105 deaths). Azerbaijan is the newest country to report human infection with 7 WHO confirmed cases and 5 deaths. Cambodia reported its first case and death of the year on 3/24/06. The human cases in China also continue to increase. See attached chart for other countries with human cases.

Mammals have tested positive for H5N1--domestic cats in Austria and Germany, wild cats in Asia, a stone marten in Germany, and a dog in Azerbaijan. 3 of the 4 domestic cats survived. This may indicate the virus is mutating and becoming virulent in more species.

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