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Kermanshah is practically in Iraq -- and Marivan is -- what? -- 50 miles from Sulimaniyah...
Originally posted by Theresa42
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...when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. - Sherlock Holmes -
Re: Iran - 2 dead from bf / 3 additional family members sick
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Re: Iran - 2 dead from bf / 3 additional family members sick
http://www.recombinomics.com/News/05...Cluster_5.html
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H5N1 Bird Flu Cluster in Iran Grows to Five
Recombinomics Commentary
May 22, 2006
The two -- a 41-year-old man and 26-year-old woman -- were among five members of the same family who became sick after returning from a trip to the town of Marivan, close to their home in the northwestern city of Kermanshah.
The three surviving relatives were in hospital and one of them remained dangerously ill, the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters. It was not clear when the brother and sister died.
The above comments indicate the familial cluster of H5N1 bird flu has a least five family members. The two fatal cases have already tested positive for H5N1. The disease onset dates will be important for determining human-to-human transmission (H2H). However, H2H was indicated for the very large clusters in Turkey as well as Azerbailan. The cluster in northern Iraq also had a 5-10 gap between the disease onset date of the index case and the other family members.
The location of the cluster in Iran is close to the Iraqi border, Officially there is only one cluster in Iraq, but other cluster remain suspect, including the pigeon breeder whose pigeons were H5N1 positive. Thus, the lack of additional reports out of Iraq remain highly suspect. These countries denied H5N1 in wild and domestic birds prior to the human infections. Thus, the number of human cases in the area may be markedly higher than the reported clusters.
The cluster in Turkey was linked to S227N. Similar changes by be linked to the cluster in the adjacent regions, including the current cluster in Iraq.
More information on disease inset dates and sequences would be useful. The H5N1 swan sequence from Iran was generated by the Capua lab in Italy and was promptly made public. Iraqi sequences were promptly made public by NAMRU-3. However, the human Turkey and Azerbaijan sequences have been withheld, The Iraqi and Turkey sequences had changes in or near the receptor binding domain. The H5N1 sequences from the area should be published immediately.
The number of large clusters continues to increase. Infections from three sets of cousins were linked in Turkey. The Azerbaijan cluster was large, but a recent media report out of Indonesia indicated that 9 people had died in the Azerbaijan cluster. The cluster in Indonesia is 8 and possibly growing.
The five members in the cluster in Iran increases the level of concern.
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Iran-2 Human H5N1 positive
Iran records first bird flu deaths
23 May 2006 [10:29] - Today.Az
Tests in Iran on the bodies of a brother and sister who died after falling ill with pneumonia-like symptoms showed they had the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu, an Iranian medical official said.
The two - a 41-year-old man and 26-year-old woman - were among five members of the same family who became sick after returning from a trip to the town of Marivan, close to their home in the northwestern city of Kermanshah.
The three surviving relatives were in hospital and one of them remained dangerously ill, the official told Reuters.
It was not clear when the brother and sister died.
Samples have been sent to international laboratories for further tests, and if the initial results are confirmed, these would be the first human bird flu deaths in Iran.
Confirmation of H5N1 could deal a major blow to Iran's poultry industry.
The Union of Chicken Meat Farmers says the industry employs 600,000 people directly but as many as 3 million people are dependent on it.
"They had all returned from a trip to the town of Marivan when they fell ill with symptoms of staphylococcal pneumonia," the official told Reuters, adding that the brother and sister had later tested positive for H5N1.
A third family member, aged 30, had slipped into a coma in hospital in Kermanshah, which is 100 km from the Iraqi border in the mountainous Kurdish territories of Iran.
The Islamic Republic first detected cases of bird flu inside the country in February, when the virus was found in wild swans.
All Iranian officials contacted by Reuters said they had been instructed not to speak to the media, adding that only the health minister was authorised to comment.
The H5N1 virus remains mainly a virus of birds, but experts fear it could change into a form easily transmitted from person to person and sweep the world, killing millions within weeks or months.
The virus has killed 123 people since late 2003, most of them in Asia, according to the most recent figures from the World Health Organisation.
Iran's neighbours Turkey, Iraq and Azerbaijan have all reported deaths from the virus in recent months.
So far, most human cases can be traced to direct or indirect contact with infected birds.
URL: http://www.today.az/news/society/26425.htmlComment
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