Egypt - new human H5N1 bird flu case - Oct 10th

[christian]

Egypt detects new human H5N1 bird flu case
Reuters AlertNet - 10 Oct 2006 22:29:02 GMT

(Adds details about case)
CAIRO, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Authorities have detected Egypt's first human case of the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu virus since May, a World Health Organisation official said on Tuesday.

Hassan el-Bushra, regional adviser for communicable diseases surveillance at the World Health Organisation, said the woman had tested positive for the avian influenza virus in tests carried out by Egyptian health authorities.
Hanan Aboul Magd, 39, has been in hospital since Oct. 4 and has been treated with the drug Tamiflu. Her condition was stable, state news agency MENA reported.

Egypt has had the largest cluster of human bird flu cases outside Asia, and the fresh case came a month after authorities found a number of new cases in birds following a two-month lull in detected poultry cases.

The new infection brings the number of human cases in Egypt to 15, of whom six have died. All the previous infections were detected between March and May after the virus first surfaced in Egyptian poultry in February.

[Sharpe]

Much more information. Apparently she raises ducks in Gharbiya in the Nile delta area. Back in March there were three poultry workers 18 miles south of Gharbiya who were suspected cases.



Egypt detects new human H5N1 bird flu case

By Aziz El-Kaissouni 32 minutes ago

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt has detected its first human case of the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu virus since May in an Egyptian woman who raised ducks from her home, a
World Health Organization official said on Tuesday.
ADVERTISEMENT

Hassan el-Bushra, regional adviser for communicable diseases surveillance at the World Health Organization, said the woman had tested positive for the avian influenza virus in tests carried out by Egyptian health authorities.

The new infection brings the number of human cases in Egypt to 15, of whom six have died. All the previous infections were detected between March and May after the virus first surfaced in Egyptian poultry in February.

The woman, 39-year-old Hanan Aboul Magd of the Nile Delta province of Gharbiya, has been in hospital since October 4 and has been treated with the drug Tamiflu, state news agency MENA said.

The woman was on a respirator but her condition was stable, MENA said. Her family was being tested for the virus.

Egypt has had the largest cluster of human bird flu cases outside of Asia, and the fresh case came a month after authorities found a cluster of new cases in birds following a two-month lull in detected poultry cases.

"BACKYARD" BIRDS

The initial bird flu outbreak caused panic in Egypt, where poultry is a major source of protein and where poor families frequently breed chicken domestically in cities and rural areas to supplement their diet and income.

MENA reported that the newly infected woman had raised a flock of 11 ducks from her home north of the Egyptian capital. Two became sick and died, and she then slaughtered the rest before she was hospitalized.

Most of the people infected with bird flu in Egypt became ill after coming into contact with so-called "backyard" birds, officials say. Egypt has culled 30 million birds since February to contain the virus.

Chickens on rooftops may be particularly susceptible to catching the virus from infected migrant birds, which fly along the densely populated Nile valley during migration, experts have suggested.

Bushra had earlier said that the fresh cases of bird flu in Egyptian poultry showed that there was still a risk for human cases, but a large outbreak was less likely to take hold or spread so long as Egypt continued to vaccinate poultry.

The vast majority of Egyptian commercial poultry flocks have been vaccinated, while about 20 percent of domestic birds had received vaccines, officials say.

Two separate officials said the onset of warm weather, combined with Egyptian government measures, may have helped keep the virus at bay during the summer months.

But an official from the Food and Agriculture Organization has said that the onset of cooler weather could still cause a flare-up of cases in poultry, and has urged increased surveillance accompanied by a fair compensation scheme.

Machine translated from Arabic:

The injured state by the bird flu in western and reassured
And emergencies in Monofiya and Al Sharikya and Ismailia and Aswan
March 23, 2006

Books - Sanaa Mostafa and Abdul Rahim Al Desouki and Solaiman Thabet and Ahmed Al Zayyat:

The Ministry of Health and Population declared a stability Mohamed Mahmoud Ghobashi's state injured with the bird flu disease in a village they twisted by the western. And she confirmed that it is submitted now to the treatment inside the isolation ward by the third stage by Tanta fevers.

The ministry pointed in an official statement to the passivity of the results of the comer samples analysis from the central laboratories and the related to five persons decides their getting out of the hospitals and they are Dina Mohamed and Azza Abdul Rahman and Azza Abdul Shakour and Mohamed and Aida emotions a praised.

And a state of the fear has overtaken a number of governorates after the continuation of the circulation of news human injuries occurrence by the bird flu where a dead fevers hospital declared behind the belonging to Shibin Al Kawm center in Monofiya the state of emergency after the suspicion in the injury of a citizen with the virus to she is added to 3 states of suspicion by the same hospital. And in Ismailia the concerned authorities wait for drawn samples analysis results from three workers in a private company of the poultry suspected in their injury with the disease.

And in Al Sharikya doctor Ahmed Abdul Moneim the Ministry of Health undersecretary confirmed that 150 samples sent to the central laboratories that came all its results a passivity, and there new cases were still waiting for the analysis results from Bilbeis and the Al-Hussainia and the disbelief of the mind in Diarb Nigm.

And in Aswan the execution of 22 thousand chickens injured with the influenza took place in a farm in sheikh Ali's hamlet in Aswan district and my neighbour the analysis of all of the workers by her.

http://www.alwafd.org/front/detail....33f9ca80cdb66a9
__________________

[HenryN]

Commentary at

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/10...Confirmed.html

[Mellie]

Confirmed H5N1 Case in Egypt
Recombinomics Commentary
October 10, 2006

The woman, 39-year-old Hanan Aboul Magd of the Nile Delta province of Gharbiya, has been in hospital since October 4 and has been treated with the drug Tamiflu, state news agency MENA said.

The woman was on a respirator but her condition was stable

MENA reported that the newly infected woman had raised a flock of 11 ducks from her home north of the Egyptian capital. Two became sick and died, and she then slaughtered the rest before she was hospitalized.

Chickens on rooftops may be particularly susceptible to catching the virus from infected migrant birds, which fly along the densely populated Nile valley during migration, experts have suggested.

The above confirmation of the first human H5N1 bird flu case this season in Africa is not unexpected. Recently Egypt reported new H5N1 infections in birds in several locations, and birds should be migrating into the area. The Ukraine has also reported recent H5N1 outbreaks as has Sudan..

Last season H5N1 infections were reported in Romania and Turkey in October. Although H5N1 had migrated into Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, most countries, including Egypt, did not report H5N1 until human fatalities were confirmed in Turkey in January of this year. Those reports were followed by acknowledgement of H5N1 in many countries in the region.

This year, most countries are again failing to detect or report H5N1 migration into the area. This lack of transparency is cause for concern.

Similarly, the sequences from most of the H5N1 in Europe have been withheld by Weybridge, who presented in May 2006 a phylogenetic tree of approximately 80 isolates from Europe in early 2006. They have only released one bird sequence, from a turkey isolated in October, 2005 as well as five human sequences (4 from Turkey and 1 from Azerbaijan). Although Weybridge has indicated they will release the sequences, they have hoarded the data for 8-12 months.

The sequences are critical for identification of the evolution of tehse isolates via recombination. Full sequences from the Capua lab are being released through the NIAID Influenza Sequencing program. It facilities like Weybridge do not have the resources for timely sequencing and release of the data, turning the samples over to NIAID would be appropriate. NIAID generates sequences at no charge, but sequences are made public instead of placing the data into the private WHO database.

Bejing Genomics Institute is releasing full sequences of H5N1 isolates China. These sequences clearly demonstrate the evolution of H5N1 via recombination, which is also seen in the recent Qinghai sequences. In the past examples of recombination has been hampered because most of the H5N1 sequences from Hong Kong and China generated by Hong Kong University and St Jude have been partial sequences. These sequences should also be completed or turned over to NIAID so a full data set can be generated to map out a more complete picture of the H5N1 evolution by recombination.

The scandalous lack of full sequences in H5N1 isolates should be corrected.

Resources are now available to rectify these sequencing shortfalls.

[T. Modesto,PhD]

Egypt detects new human H5N1 bird flu case
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L10655066.htm

(Adds location of new case, woman raised birds)

By Aziz El-Kaissouni

CAIRO, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Egypt has detected its first human case of the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu virus since May in an Egyptian woman who raised ducks from her home, a World Health Organisation official said on Tuesday.

Hassan el-Bushra, regional adviser for communicable diseases surveillance at the World Health Organisation, said the woman had tested positive for the avian influenza virus in tests carried out by Egyptian health authorities.

The new infection brings the number of human cases in Egypt to 15, of whom six have died. All the previous infections were detected between March and May after the virus first surfaced in Egyptian poultry in February.

The woman, 39-year-old Hanan Aboul Magd of the Nile Delta province of Gharbiya, has been in hospital since Oct. 4 and has been treated with the drug Tamiflu, state news agency MENA said.

The woman was on a respirator but her condition was stable, MENA said. Her family was being tested for the virus.

Egypt has had the largest cluster of human bird flu cases outside of Asia, and the fresh case came a month after authorities found a cluster of new cases in birds following a two-month lull in detected poultry cases.

"BACKYARD" BIRDS

The initial bird flu outbreak caused panic in Egypt, where poultry is a major source of protein and where poor families frequently breed chicken domestically in cities and rural areas to supplement their diet and income.

MENA reported that the newly infected woman had raised a flock of 11 ducks from her home north of the Egyptian capital. Two became sick and died, and she then slaughtered the rest before she was hospitalised.

Most of the people infected with bird flu in Egypt became ill after coming into contact with so-called "backyard" birds, officials say. Egypt has culled 30 million birds since February to contain the virus.

Chickens on rooftops may be particularly susceptible to catching the virus from infected migrant birds, which fly along the densely populated Nile valley during migration, experts have suggested.

Bushra had earlier said that the fresh cases of bird flu in Egyptian poultry showed that there was still a risk for human cases, but a large outbreak was less likely to take hold or spread so long as Egypt continued to vaccinate poultry.

The vast majority of Egyptian commercial poultry flocks have been vaccinated, while about 20 percent of domestic birds had received vaccines, officials say.

Two separate officials said the onset of warm weather, combined with Egyptian government measures, may have helped keep the virus at bay during the summer months.

But an official from the Food and Agriculture Organisation has said that the onset of cooler weather could still cause a flare-up of cases in poultry, and has urged increased surveillance accompanied by a fair compensation scheme.

[HenryN]

New human bird flu case in Egypt
Egypt has detected its first human case of the bird flu virus since May in a woman who raised ducks from her home.
The woman is said to have tested positive for the deadly H5N1 virus in tests carried out by the country's health authorities.
This brings to 15 the total number of human bird flu cases in Egypt since the virus was first detected in February.
Six people have died so far, while eight have recovered after being treated with the anti-flu drug Tamiflu.
Egypt is a major route for migratory birds and is one of the countries worst hit by the virus outside Asia. In the Middle East, the disease is also known to be present in Iran, Iraq, Israel, Gaza and the West Bank.

Story from BBC NEWS:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/h...st/6039810.stm


Published: 2006/10/11 10:14:10 GMT

[HenryN]

Avian influenza – situation in Egypt - update 9
11 October 2006
The Ministry of Health in Egypt has confirmed the country’s first case of human infection with the H5N1 virus since May of this year.
The patient is a 39-year-old woman from the Gharbiya governorate in the Nile Delta. She developed symptoms on 30 September and was hospitalized on 4 October. She subsequently developed pneumonia. She remains hospitalized in stable condition.
Her recent history includes the home slaughter and defeathering of around a dozen ducks when signs of illness and deaths began to occur in the flock
Egypt reported a recurrence of poultry outbreaks in backyard flocks in September 2006.
Previous human cases occurred from late March 2006 through May. To date, the country has reported 15 cases, of which 6 were fatal.

http://www.who.int/csr/don/2006_10_11/en/

[Theresa42]

There might be more details in this article (then again there might not be!) -- but I can't access Google translator just now. If anyone can, you can just cut & paste in the URL to get a translation:

http://www.google.com/language_tools

استقرار حالة المريضة 15 المصابة بأنفلونزا الطيور
Oct 12, 2006

كتبت ـ سناء مصطفي:
أكد الدكتور حاتم الجبلي وزير الصحة والسكان استقرار حالة المريضة حنان أبوالمجد المصابة بانفلونزا الطيور والمحتجزة داخل مستشفي صدر المحلة.
كما كشفت نتائج التحاليل للمخاطلين للمصابة عن سلبية النتائج وعدم اصابتهم بانفلونزا الطيور. كما تم اعدام الطيور المخالطة للطيور النافقة داخل منزل المصابة وتم تطهير المنطقة المحيطة بمنزل المصابة. صرح بذلك الدكتور عبدالرحمن شاهين المتحدث الرسمي للوزارة.
واشار إلي ان المريضة بانفلونزا الطيور هي الحالة الخامسة عشرة لفتاة من سمنود وتبلغ 39 عاما وتعرضت للاصابة نتيجة ذبح طيور منزلية وتنظيفها مما ادي إلي اصابتها بالانفلونزا وتم اتخاذ الاجراءات الوقائية واعطاء المصابة عقار التاميفلو وحجزها داخل قسم الصدر بمستشفي بالمحلة وتم تحليل العينات داخل المعامل المركزية بوزارة الصحة وتأكد اصابتها بالفيروس.

http://www.alwafd.org/front/detail.p...9093775bba2438

[Mellie]

The stability of the ailing 15 infected birds بانفلونزا

Sana, Mustafa wrote :
Dr. Hatim al-Jabali, minister of health and population stabilization of the patient Hanan Aboulmagd said : بانفلونزا infected birds and retained inside the hospital was the place.

It also revealed the results of the analysis of the infected Mkhatalin negative results and they have no avian influenza. Birds were also executed exclusivism of the dead birds inside the house were cleared stricken area surrounding the house was injured. Dr Rahman Shahin, spokesman of the ministry.

He pointed out that the ailing avian influenza is the situation five years to a girl from Smnod amounts to 39 years and were injured as a consequence of the slaughter of birds at home and cleaned, which led to several bouts were taking preventive action and to give the affected property Altamiflo and seizure within the hospital in Mehalla Al-Sadr samples were analyzed da vinegar labs central Ministry of Health confirmed HIV infection.

[Mellie]

Is this saying she has HIV?

Hi Theresa, having a good vacation yet?

[Theresa42]

Originally Posted by Mellie

Is this saying she has HIV?

Hi Theresa, having a good vacation yet?

That 'HIV infection' thing is an artifact of the Google translator. Should read H5N1 infection.

So far so good, Mellie! Thanks for translating!

[Dutchy]

More details and background

Egypt still battling with bird flu, new case detected

First Published: October 12, 2006


The new case of bird flu reveal that the virus is still circulating within Egypt

CAIRO: A new case of human bird flu, the first since May, was detected in Egypt Wednesday, indicating behavior has been slow to change despite widespread awareness campaigns, officials and experts said.

Health officials announced the H5N1 strain of bird flu, its most aggressive form, had been detected in a woman from the northern delta province of Al-Gharbiya.

They said Hanan Abul Magd, 39, was tested for bird flu after suffering from high fever and shortness of breath. She is believed to have been infected when she slaughtered her ailing flock of ducks.

Her infection brings the number of human bird flu cases to 15 since the virus was first detected in February in Egypt. Six cases turned out to be fatal and eight people recovered after being treated with Tamiflu.

But despite widespread government campaigns in coordination with groups such as the World Health Organization (WHO), the general public, who rely on poultry for food and income, are failing to comply with safety precautions.

"There is a big problem with behavioral change in Egypt. People are just not accepting the change," said WHO expert John Jabbour.

Experts had criticized the government for failing to tackle the first outbreak boldly enough. Six people died between March and May this year.

"The first time, the government was caught by surprise a little and did not take all the necessary precautions. But they have been working very hard since," said Talaat Khatib, professor of food hygiene at Assiut University.

"There is also less of a threat now after the government slaughtered so much infected poultry during the last outbreak," he said.

But while the government did slaughter millions of infected birds on large farms, the question of domestic rearing was and is still a problem.

Teams of experts from the Supreme National Committee to combat bird flu were deployed throughout the 20 affected governorates in Cairo, handing out brochures and offering advice.

"The government is trying to control it. But getting into all the homes is a very long and difficult procedure," Jabbour told AFP.

"People are still hiding their poultry. There is an awareness problem and a cultural problem," he said. (There is a compensation scheme problem too...)

Abul Magd had been keeping 11 ducks in her backyard. When two of the ducks died, she slaughtered the rest of them.

"This is the most dangerous exposure, to slaughter infected animals," said Jabbour. "It is something that certainly could have been avoided."

Egypt is on a major route for migratory birds and is the hardest-hit non-Asian country since the bird flu epidemic broke out in 2003.

The H5N1 strain of bird flu has killed more than 148 people worldwide, according to the WHO.

http://www.dailystaregypt.com/articl...ArticleID=3366

[Laidback Al]

This confirmed case has now been reported by WHO

http://www.who.int/csr/don/2006_10_11/en/index.html

[Theresa42]

Google-translated from Arabic:

Panic in the West after the emergence of a new case of suspected avian influenza
Oct 20, 2006

There is a state of panic among citizens Governorate Western fear of the spread of the bird flu pandemic. The Directorate of Health called the detention of sick Ula Abdel Razek, 28 years housewives and evaluates Enberoh city of Dakahlia Governorate in hospital.

Pathogenesis of Mahala under suspicion بانفلونزا infected birds. Been sent a sample of blood for examination by central labs in Cairo. As has been sampling from all Almkhalten them. This is the third case that emerged in the province within days.

http://www.alwafd.org/front/detail.p...932213b73ea4d4

[MHSC]

Hanan Abul Magd, 39 (F), from Nile Delta province of Gharbiy exposure to ducks, developed symptoms Sept 30, hospitalized October 4, treated with Tamiflu & respirator, condition stable, confirmed by WHO October 11, family being tested


Ula Abdel Razek, 28 (F), exposure to birds



Who is the third?

[HenryN]

Commentary at

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/10...1_Egypt_3.html

> "There is also less of a threat now after the government slaughtered so much infected poultry during the last outbreak," he said.

Egyptian news press has taken lessons from their bretheren in Indonesia.

Last year was the tip of the viral storm. This year, the winds have picked up into gusts. It's October, the beginning of winter. We should see plenty of gusts all along the Nile River Valley.

Still, this is the same ole' same ole'. It's not 3rd Generation.

[Theresa42]

This is from yesterday (sorry, couldn't access Al Wafd yesterday)...

Google-translated from Arabic:

Panic Bank of avian flu outbreaks
Oct 26, 2006

There is a state of panic among citizens enough after the seizure of the child Basma Essam seven months yesterday on suspicion Bismnod بانفلونزا infected birds. The bodies of the Ministry of Health had seized two cases in the last few hours and another case a few days ago have been transferred to the Abbasiya Hospital of the gravity of their situation. The Ministry of Health issued strict instructions to the health departments nationwide not to issue any statements on the epidemic only after consulting the ministry spokesman!! [their emphasis] On the other hand, the Department of Health to take preventive action to ensure that the transition of the epidemic Mkhalten and take samples for examination in the central labs.

http://www.alwafd.org/front/detail.p...b5d9457c6c75be

[HenryN]

Commentary at

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/10...pt_Grow_2.html

[Theresa42]

Somebody tested neg ... Ula Abdel Razek, recent bf suspect #3 ... somebody else...?

Machine-translated from Arabic:

The safety of ill samples is the district fevers
Oct 29, 2006

The samples analyses confirmed the safety of the Fever Hospital patient by the district from the bird flu disease. Doctor Abdul Rahman Shahin the official spokesman pointed the Ministry of Health the departure of patient of the hospital after the assurance of its non injury by the disease. And the highest committee of the bird flu confirmed the non appearance conditions of new feast days and warned of the dealing with the alive birds and the non holding the slaughter except in the automatic massacres belonging to the veterinary services. And the committee demanded the continuation of wiping to the disease samples [i.e. taking of samples] inside hospitals the fevers, the chest diseases and the hesitant for the treatment are from the symptoms of the ordinary influenza to make sure of their being free from the virus.

And Amin Abaza the Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation confirmed, that the field and laboratory reports that he received to the poultry farms in all of the governorates the non appearance of new conditions pointing to the continuation of efforts showed on the continuation of the domestic activity and taking samples and examination and the supervision, for the guarantee of the educators commitment by the subscriptions.

And he pointed out that the poultry projects make now by all their energy after the control over the disease took place.

http://www.alwafd.org/front/detail.p...d5f6d6a73c71fb

[HenryN]

Any info on the patients described on this thread and the 1 or 2 patients being described in today's wire reports?



see: http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/sho...3728#post43728

[HenryN]

Seventh Egyptian dies of bird flu - agency
Mon 30 Oct 2006 11:30 AM ET

(Adds details of the case, background)

CAIRO, Oct 30 (Reuters) - An Egyptian woman died of bird flu on Monday, bringing the total number of human deaths in Egypt to seven, the state news agency MENA said.

The victim was a woman from the Nile Delta town of Samanoud who had slaughtered and handled domestic poultry, it said. It was the first human death in Egypt from the virus since May.

The agency had earlier identified the woman as 39-year-old Hanan Aboul Magd, who was admitted to hospital with a high temperature and respiratory trouble on Oct. 4.

She moved to a specialist hospital in Cairo on Oct. 12 and was receiving Tamiflu, the standard treatment for the deadly virus, MENA said.

It said people with whom she was in contact have tested negative for the H5N1 virus, which first appeared in Egypt in February and caused great damage to the poultry industry.

With 15 infections, Egypt has had the largest cluster of human bird flu cases outside Asia, and the latest case came a month after authorities found a cluster of new cases in birds following a two-month lull in detected poultry cases.

The initial bird flu outbreak caused panic in Egypt, where poultry is a major source of protein and where poor families frequently breed chicken domestically in cities and rural areas to supplement their diet and income.

MENA said Aboul Magd had raised a flock of 11 ducks from her home north of the Egyptian capital. Two became sick and died, and she then slaughtered the rest before she was hospitalised.

Egypt's commercial poultry industry has started to recover from the disease and the vast majority of commercial flocks have been vaccinated, but only about 20 percent of domestic birds had received vaccines, officials say.

http://today.reuters.com/News/Crises...oryId=L3068642