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Dea initially diagnosed with typhus / additional bf suspect EK (32) from Tipar hamlet
H5N1 cluster suspected in West Java
August 19, 2006
Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung
A 35-year-old suspected of having bird flu died Thursday night after being hospitalized for two hours at Dr. Slamet Hospital in Garut, West Java, an official said Friday.
Three other people who may have the disease, who come from the same village as the woman who died, were being treated at Hasan Sadikin Hospital in Bandung.
The victim, identified only as E [Euis Lina], was the mother of a nine-year-old girl, D, who died last week of what was initially thought to be typhus.
Dr. Slamet Hospital spokesman Yogi Prayogi said the woman arrived in critical condition displaying H5N1 symptoms. The hospital then compared her symptoms with her daughter's medical report.
"We earlier suspected (her daughter) of having typhus due to her high fever but then she died of shock due to acute breathing trouble," which is a bird flu symptom, he told The Jakarta Post by phone Friday.
Since D had been diagnosed with typhus, the hospital had not taken a blood sample from her. Her mother's blood was sent for testing.
The woman came from Cikelet village, where possible bird flu cases have occurred in five hamlets -- Jojok, Rancasalak, Cigandok, Sawah Bera and Tipar -- raising fears of a new cluster of the disease.
The Health Ministry and the World Health Organization (WHO) were dispatched Thursday to investigate the remote area, AFP reported.
According to Health Ministry figures, 46 Indonesians have died of bird flu since the first case diagnosed in humans here in June 2005. It is the world's highest number of fatalities.
Bayu Krisnamurthi, head of the National Committee for Avian Influenza Control and Pandemic Preparedness, has played down the cluster fears, however, saying there is no evidence of human-to-human transmission. "The cases are not clusters because they are from different hamlets," he told Reuters.
Still, the rising number of possible cases in Cikelet has kept West Java at the top of the list of provinces in the country with bird flu, a status it has had since February of this year.
The head of the West Java health office's environmental health subdivision, Fatimah Remiati, said there have been 20 confirmed human cases in nine of the province's 25 cities and regencies. The nine are Bekasi regency and mayoralty, Sumedang, Bandung, Bogor, Indramayu, Depok, Tasikmalaya and Garut.
Out of the 20, "17 have died and three others survived," Fatimah said in Bandung.
As of Friday, bird flu had killed a nine-year-old girl, identified as A [Ai Siti Amanah], on Tuesday and sickened a 14-year-old boy, identified as U [Umar], who had been taken home by his family. Four other people from the village died with symptoms of bird flu before tests could be taken.
Two other suspected victims, a five-year-old girl[?] identified as I [Ismawati] from Jojok hamlet, and an eight-year-old girl identified as S [Santi] from Sawah Bera, were recovering. They had been treated at Hasan Sadikin hospital in Bandung since Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.
Yogi said another possible bird flu sufferer, identified as 32-year-old EK from Tipar hamlet, was admitted to a Garut hospital Friday and would be immediately rushed to Hasan Sadikin Hospital.
The mother of the eight-year-old who is recovering said bird flu rumors started to spread in Cikelet after the virus killed the nine-year-old girl Tuesday. She said the villagers never had information on bird flu and never got vaccine for their livestock.
The woman, who is four months pregnant, said four out of her 15 chickens died before her daughter got sick. Instead of disposing of the dead chickens, she cooked them. "I didn't have the heart to throw them away, especially the rooster. Its meat was so delicious," she said.
The head of the West Java husbandry office's animal health subdivision, Nana M. Adnan, said three out of 14 blood samples taken from poultry in three hamlets in Cikelet tested positive for the H5N1 virus. More than 400 fowl were immediately destroyed. "We're stopping poultry transportation from and to Cikelet for a month," Nana said.
He said since the overall population in Cikelet was low, the number of villagers keeping poultry was relatively small. Rancasalak, for instance, has only 25 families. He said most kept their livestock underneath their houses.
H5N1 cluster suspected in West Java
August 19, 2006
Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung
A 35-year-old suspected of having bird flu died Thursday night after being hospitalized for two hours at Dr. Slamet Hospital in Garut, West Java, an official said Friday.
Three other people who may have the disease, who come from the same village as the woman who died, were being treated at Hasan Sadikin Hospital in Bandung.
The victim, identified only as E [Euis Lina], was the mother of a nine-year-old girl, D, who died last week of what was initially thought to be typhus.
Dr. Slamet Hospital spokesman Yogi Prayogi said the woman arrived in critical condition displaying H5N1 symptoms. The hospital then compared her symptoms with her daughter's medical report.
"We earlier suspected (her daughter) of having typhus due to her high fever but then she died of shock due to acute breathing trouble," which is a bird flu symptom, he told The Jakarta Post by phone Friday.
Since D had been diagnosed with typhus, the hospital had not taken a blood sample from her. Her mother's blood was sent for testing.
The woman came from Cikelet village, where possible bird flu cases have occurred in five hamlets -- Jojok, Rancasalak, Cigandok, Sawah Bera and Tipar -- raising fears of a new cluster of the disease.
The Health Ministry and the World Health Organization (WHO) were dispatched Thursday to investigate the remote area, AFP reported.
According to Health Ministry figures, 46 Indonesians have died of bird flu since the first case diagnosed in humans here in June 2005. It is the world's highest number of fatalities.
Bayu Krisnamurthi, head of the National Committee for Avian Influenza Control and Pandemic Preparedness, has played down the cluster fears, however, saying there is no evidence of human-to-human transmission. "The cases are not clusters because they are from different hamlets," he told Reuters.
Still, the rising number of possible cases in Cikelet has kept West Java at the top of the list of provinces in the country with bird flu, a status it has had since February of this year.
The head of the West Java health office's environmental health subdivision, Fatimah Remiati, said there have been 20 confirmed human cases in nine of the province's 25 cities and regencies. The nine are Bekasi regency and mayoralty, Sumedang, Bandung, Bogor, Indramayu, Depok, Tasikmalaya and Garut.
Out of the 20, "17 have died and three others survived," Fatimah said in Bandung.
As of Friday, bird flu had killed a nine-year-old girl, identified as A [Ai Siti Amanah], on Tuesday and sickened a 14-year-old boy, identified as U [Umar], who had been taken home by his family. Four other people from the village died with symptoms of bird flu before tests could be taken.
Two other suspected victims, a five-year-old girl[?] identified as I [Ismawati] from Jojok hamlet, and an eight-year-old girl identified as S [Santi] from Sawah Bera, were recovering. They had been treated at Hasan Sadikin hospital in Bandung since Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.
Yogi said another possible bird flu sufferer, identified as 32-year-old EK from Tipar hamlet, was admitted to a Garut hospital Friday and would be immediately rushed to Hasan Sadikin Hospital.
The mother of the eight-year-old who is recovering said bird flu rumors started to spread in Cikelet after the virus killed the nine-year-old girl Tuesday. She said the villagers never had information on bird flu and never got vaccine for their livestock.
The woman, who is four months pregnant, said four out of her 15 chickens died before her daughter got sick. Instead of disposing of the dead chickens, she cooked them. "I didn't have the heart to throw them away, especially the rooster. Its meat was so delicious," she said.
The head of the West Java husbandry office's animal health subdivision, Nana M. Adnan, said three out of 14 blood samples taken from poultry in three hamlets in Cikelet tested positive for the H5N1 virus. More than 400 fowl were immediately destroyed. "We're stopping poultry transportation from and to Cikelet for a month," Nana said.
He said since the overall population in Cikelet was low, the number of villagers keeping poultry was relatively small. Rancasalak, for instance, has only 25 families. He said most kept their livestock underneath their houses.
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