Bird flu killed five in Azerbaijan - WHO

[Texanna]

Bird flu killed five in Azerbaijan - WHO
Tue Mar 21, 2006 3:26 PM GMT

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyid=2006-03-21T152636Z_01_L21555916_RTRUKOC_0_UK-BIRDFLU-AZERBAIJAN-WHO.xml

GENEVA (Reuters) - The H5N1 strain of bird flu has killed five people in Azerbaijan in recent weeks, the World Health Organisation said on Tuesday.

The WHO said two other people in Azerbaijan had tested positive for bird flu. One of them has recovered, while the other remains in hospital in critical condition.

[DB]

Re: Bird flu killed five in Azerbaijan - WHO

So we have a total of 7 people infected, 5 dead, 1 recovered and 1 in criticial condition.

Not good. Not good at all.

[Mellie]

Re: Bird flu killed five in Azerbaijan - WHO

The WHO reps were visitig families of those who were initially ill. I'd like to know if these who have died or been infected are also family members, what is their time of onset of illness, of symptoms, etc. I'm sure the WHO reps must be gathering the data to see if these are additional cases of B to H or if they could be H to H or even Dog to H...

I wish they'd lay out all the info, clearly and plainly so we could form our own conclusions.

Now when a health care worker (HCW) or a WHO rep gets it, now that would be attention grabbing! much as I'd dread hearing such news...

[DB]

Re: Bird flu killed five in Azerbaijan - WHO

Avian influenza – situation in Azerbaijan - update 2

21 March 2006

Samples from 11 patients under investigation in Azerbaijan for possible H5N1 infection have now been tested at a WHO collaborating laboratory in the United Kingdom. Positive H5N1 results were obtained for seven of these patients. Five cases were fatal.


Today is an official holiday in Azerbaijan. The government will issue an official statement on the situation shortly.


Six of the cases occurred in Salyan Rayon in the south-eastern part of the country. All six cases resided in the small Daikyand settlement of around 800 homes.


A 17-year-old girl died on 23 February. Her first cousin, a 20-year-old woman, died on 3 March. The 16-year-old brother of this woman died on 10 March. A 17-year-old girl, a close friend of the family, died on 8 March. All four of these cases lived together or near each other. The source of their infection is presently under investigation.


The additional two cases in Salyan involve a 10-year-old boy, who has recovered, and a 15-year-old girl, who is hospitalized in critical condition.
The seventh case occurred in a 21-year-old woman from the western rayon of Tarter. She died on 9 March.


Two additional patients, from Salyan and the adjacent rayon of Neftchela, have been hospitalized with symptoms of bilateral pneumonia. Testing of these patients is presently under way.


Last week, WHO strengthened its field team in Azerbaijan to include experts in clinical management and infection control and additional senior epidemiologists.


Over the weekend, a field investigation in Salyan, jointly conducted by WHO and the Azeri Ministry of Health, found some evidence that carcasses of numerous swans, dead for some weeks but not buried, may have been collected by residents as a source of feathers. In this community, the defeathering of birds is a task usually undertaken by adolescent girls and young women. The WHO team is today investigating whether this practice may have been the source of infection in Daikyand, where the majority of cases have occurred in females between the ages of 15 and 20 years.


Interviews with surviving family members have failed to uncover a history of direct exposure to dead or diseased poultry for several of the cases.


Excellent collaboration between the Ministry of Health and the WHO team continues. WHO is confident that ongoing house-to-house surveillance for cases of influenza-like illness, undertaken by more than 90 local medical teams in Salyan and Tarter, will detect patients requiring further investigation. On-site diagnostic capacity continues to be provided by the US Naval Medical Research Unit 3 (NAMRU-3). A better understanding of the situation in animals is, however, urgently needed.


http://www.who.int/csr/don/2006_03_21a/en/

[DB]

Re: Bird flu killed five in Azerbaijan - WHO

Febuary 23: A 17-year-old girl died.
March 3: Her first cousin, a 20-year-old woman
March 8: A 17-year-old girl, a close friend of the family,
March 10: The 16-year-old brother of the 20 year old woman died.

All four of these cases lived together or near each other.
The source of their infection is presently under investigation.

Well, clearly they did not all eat or play with the same chicken. With the case death dates this looks like human to human transmission.

[Mellie]

Re: Bird flu killed five in Azerbaijan - WHO

Are these all NEW CASES? What are the relationships with the OLD cases?

Have people been given tamiflu? Could that have delayed death?

Is there any evidence that these people could have done something like collecting dead swans or collecting feathers from the dead swans left lying around? Could this be the mode whereby they got infected in a multimodal fashion?

Who are the other 3 who died but aren't listed? What's their relationship to previous cases? If they are family members, are there any alternative explanations for their deaths besides h to h transmission?

I'm a scientist, albeit a distrustful one at times when politics and business get tied up with the science, but I would like to see all the facts and findings laid out and all the gene sequences subjected to scientific scrutiny. There's science that can be brought to bear at all levels is information is provided freely.

As for the gene sequences, looks like there is some movement toward making that info more available. Time will tell, just as time will tell if this is efficient human to human transmission occurring in Azerbaijain or if transmission suggests the change in S127N (that occurred in Turkey) and nothing more than inefficient h to h...

A sick caregiver would be pretty suggestive unless he or she collected swan feathers on the side or played kissy face with a pet dog that had been eating dead swans... Epidemiology! Let's see ALL the facts! you WHO reps!

Check this thread:

http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2345

List List of People Reported Infected or Dead in Azerbaijan from 3/14 (AnneZ, Zkurmus & Mellie contributed):

People reported infected or dead in Azerbajan <hr size="1" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);"><!-- / icon and title --><!-- message --> Thank you to Zkurmus for finding the news reports.
I have reorganised the following list in to clusters.

20 cases: 4 deaths, 5 recovered, 11 unknown status.

Cluster 1. This maybe a cluster, it is based on the surnames of these people.
Shahriyar Asgerov.(Shakhmar,Shahlar,Shamkhar,Sahmar Askerov,Asgarov)
16 male, Daikand village, Salyan region, died 10-Mar-06
Nabat Askerov (Nebat Asgerova Askerova). 20 Female, died 3-Mar-06

Cluster 2.
Ahmadov Yashar Bahlul, 14 female, Salyan, discharged from Baku Hospital No. 7
Ahmadova Kamila Bahlul, 17 female, Salyan, discharged from Baku Hospital No. 7

Cluster 3.
E.G, sibling to O.G., from Tokat, Cumhuriyet University Hospital
O.G., sibling to E.G., from Tokat, now at Cumhuriyet University Hospital

Cluster 4.
A.S., Sibling to B.S., from Tokat, now at Cumhuriyet University Hospital
B.S., sibling to A.S. from Tokat, now at Cumhuriyet University Hospital




Mammadova Agaselim Arif, 13, discharged from Baku Hospital No. 7

Manafov Elsever Panah, 20, Kyurdamir, discharged.

Shahsenem Ibrahimova, 6, Salyan, discharged.

Ziyafet Muhtarov, 35, Dayikent and nearby village,

Emrah Ismailov,9, Dayikent and nearby village,

Schaxsenem Ibrahimova, 2.5 female, admitted to hospital 6-mar-2006

Amrah Ismayilov, 9, Sarvan

Maleyka Rzazade, Narimanov District of Baku resident

Ziyafet Mukhtarov, 35 male, Salyan.

Seymur Gulmaliyev, 28 male, worker of Safali-broiler farm.

Khatira (Hatira) Abbasova, 17 , Dayikend, died 23-Feb-06

Gunel Gasymova (Gyune Gasimova), 16 or 17 female, Sarvan, died 8-mar-2006.
<!-- / message --><!-- edit note -->

http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2411

[DB]

Re: Bird flu killed five in Azerbaijan - WHO

Interviews with surviving family members have failed to uncover a history of direct exposure to dead or diseased poultry for several of the cases.

[ukcz]

Re: Bird flu killed five in Azerbaijan - WHO

<bod>Four of those who died were young women aged between 17 and 21, while the other was a 16-year-old boy.</bod>

Now check the male/female ratio of deaths worldwide. Female bias? (We already know the virus likes the young.)