Suspected human bird flu case in Azerbaijan / 2nd sus case

[Gert van der Hoek]

BAKU, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Health authorities in Azerbaijan are treating a 14-year-old boy for suspected bird flu, the Health Ministry said on Thursday.The boy's sister was one of five people who died last year in an outbreak of H5N1 strain bird flu in the former Soviet republic between Turkey and Russia, the ministry said.

"It is too early to speak of an exact diagnosis. The boy's blood sample has been sent for analysis to a laboratory in London and is also being analysed in Baku," said a Health Ministry official who did not want to be named.

The boy is being treated in a respiratory illness institute in the capital, Baku.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) sent a team of experts to help Azerbaijan's health officials manage the previous outbreak, which began last spring.

The boy now in hospital is from the southern region of Salyan, which was one of two centres of last year's outbreak.

WHO experts traced the infection then to local people plucking migratory birds to use their feathers. It said the outbreak was contained and since April last year there have been no confirmed cases in Azerbaijan.

Bird flu has killed 163 people since 2003, according to the WHO. H5N1 is the most deadly strain so far identified.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L25635193.htm

[Jeremy]

Re: Suspected bird flu case in Azerbaijan

This is interesting.

Almost 9 months after his sister succumbed to H5N1, the boy becomes potentially infected with H5N1.

If he comes back positive than it would be a pretty good guess that the virus has found a nice foothold in Azerbaijan.

It would also be interesting to see if the boy is infected with a new strain or the strain his sister died from.

Has there been any other cases similar to this?

[HenryN]

Re: Suspected bird flu case in Azerbaijan

From last year

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/03210603/H5N1_Azerbaijan_Cluster_Confirmed.html

Fatal H5N1 Bird Flu Familial Cluster in Azerbaijan Confirmed

Recombinomics Commentary
March 21, 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.

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.

The above comments from the WHO update confirm media reports and commentaries on the relationship of the Azerbaijan familial cluster.......

[HenryN]

NAMRU-3

From last year


On 13 March, a field laboratory with real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) capacity to detect influenza A/H5 virus, was established by the US Navy Medical Research Unit 3 (NAMRU-3), Cairo (Egypt), at the Anti-Plague Station (APS) in Baku. On the same day, throat swabs and/or blood specimens, including postmortem specimens, obtained from 11 individuals for whom HAI diagnosis was considered, were tested. Influenza A/H5 virus infection was detected in samples from 5 deceased individuals (including 4 from Daikyand and 1 from Tarter, another district in central eastern Azerbaijan). All samples were also sent for confirmation to the WHO Collaborating Centre for Influenza at the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR), Mill Hill, United Kingdom.

[Laidback Al]

Re: Suspected bird flu case in Azerbaijan

In addition to the cases noted by Niman, a 24 year male, brother to the woman who died on March 9th, was probably also infected. He died on March 3rd and no samples were taken.

Cluster in Bayim-Sarov, Tarter District
On 28 February, a 24-year-old male resident in Bayim-Sarov
IDP camp, developed shortness of breath, weakness,
headache and was sub-febrile (37.5 ?C). The next day, he
was referred from the nearby tuberculosis dispensary in
Barda to the Scientific Research Institute of Lung Diseases
Hospital in Baku, where he died on 3 March with diagnosis
of reactivated TB. No samples were preserved for examinament
His body was returned home to Tarter that day, where
it was mourned in very close physical contact by his 18-
year-old sister.
On 4 March, the sister developed similar symptoms to her
brother and, on 6 March, was referred from the TB dispensary
to Hospital 1 in Baku, where she died 3 days later. The
samples obtained tested positive for influenza A/H5 virus
infection by RT-PCR at the NAMRU-3 field laboratory.
These results were confirmed at NIMR.

http://www.who.int/wer/2006/wer8118.pdf

[Theresa42]

Re: Suspected bird flu case in Azerbaijan

Suspected bird flu case in Azerbaijan
25 Jan 2007 18:36:35 GMT
Source: Reuters

(Updates with initial test negative, paragraph 4)

BAKU, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Health authorities in Azerbaijan are treating a 14-year-old boy for suspected bird flu, the Health Ministry said on Thursday.

The boy's sister was one of five people who died last year in an outbreak of H5N1 strain bird flu in the former Soviet republic between Turkey and Russia, the ministry said.

"It is too early to speak of an exact diagnosis. The boy's blood sample has been sent for analysis to a laboratory in London," said a Health Ministry official who did not want to be named.

The official said tests by a laboratory in Azerbaijan were negative for bird flu. He said doctors will now wait for the result from the London laboratory, which is endorsed by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The boy is being treated in a respiratory illness institute in the capital, Baku.

The WHO sent a team of experts to help Azerbaijan's health officials manage the previous outbreak, which began last spring.

The boy now in hospital is from the southern region of Salyan, which was one of two centres of last year's outbreak.

WHO experts traced the infection then to local people plucking migratory birds to use their feathers. It said the outbreak was contained and since April last year there have been no confirmed cases in Azerbaijan.

Bird flu has killed 163 people since 2003, according to the WHO. H5N1 is the most deadly strain so far identified.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L2594186.htm

[Niko]

Re: Suspected bird flu case in Azerbaijan

Today.Az ? Society ? Analysis of Salyan resident to be sent to WHO reference laboratory
<table border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3" width="100%"><tbody><tr> <td background="/images/dash.gif"></td></tr></tbody></table> 26 January 2007 [16:28] - Today.Az
<table border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3" width="100%"><tbody><tr> <td background="/images/dash.gif"></td></tr></tbody></table> The analysis of Salyan resident, 14 year-old Alesker Askerov being cured in Scientific Institute of Resperatory Diseases will be sent to World Health Organization reference laboratory.

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td class="normal3"> Head physician of the Institute Khayyam Mammadov told the APA that though Askerov, brought to the Institute and being cured of pneumonia has no bird flu virus, taking into account bird flu virus in Dayikend last year, they decided to send the patient's analysis to the WHO reference laboratory. The man who had bird flu virus in that village last year is the Askerovs' relative.
WHO Office in Azerbaijan told the APA that the Health Ministry will appeal to this organization to send the samples to the reference laboratory.
World Health Organization will ensure sending these samples to London within 3-4 days. No blood test of an Azerbaijani is being examined in WHO laboratory at present.
</td></tr></tbody></table>
URL: http://www.today.az/news/society/35519.html

[HenryN]

Suspected bird flu case in Azerbaijan Dies

Azeri boy suspected of having bird flu dies
Sun 28 Jan 2007 16:55:12 GMT
BAKU, Jan 28 (Reuters) - A 14-year-old Azeri boy, treated for suspected bird flu in a medical institute in the capital, Baku, died on Sunday before his diagnosis could be finally established, a Health Ministry spokesman said.

"According to information from the institute, the boy died today in the morning," Anar Kadyrly said. "Azeri specialists suspected he had bird flu, but three tests conducted in Baku showed he had acute pneumonia."

Kadyrly said the boy's blood sample had been sent for analysis to a laboratory in London endorsed by the World Health Organisation (WHO), but no results had returned so far.

The boy was from the southern region of Salyan, one of two centres of last year's bird flu outbreak.

His sister was one of five people who died last year in an outbreak of H5N1 strain bird flu in the former Soviet republic lying between Turkey and Russia.

Bird flu has killed more than 160 people since 2003, according to the WHO. H5N1 is the most deadly strain so far identified.

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/CrisesArticle.aspx?storyId=L2844402&WTmodLoc=World-R5-Alertnet-4

[HenryN]

Re: Suspected bird flu case in Azerbaijan

Commentary at

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/01280702/H5N1_Azerbaijan_Fatal.html

[Mellie]

Re: Suspected bird flu case in Azerbaijan

Suspect Qinghai H5N1 Patient in Azerbaijan Dies
Recombinomics Commentary
January 28, 2007

A 14-year-old Azeri boy, treated for suspected bird flu in a medical institute in the capital, Baku, died on Sunday before his diagnosis could be finally established, a Health Ministry spokesman said.

"According to information from the institute, the boy died today in the morning," Anar Kadyrly said. "Azeri specialists suspected he had bird flu, but three tests conducted in Baku showed he had acute pneumonia."

The above comments describe the failure to detect H5N1 in three tests of a fatal pneumonia case, who was the brother of a fatal H5N1 case last year. Last year?s case was part of one of two cluster linked to feathers from wild birds.

The death of a 14M with ?acute pneumonia? strongly suggests that the negative test results this year were false.

Qinghai H5N1 was recently confirmed in Hungary, and five human cases have been confirmed in Egypt this season. All five cases in Egypt have been fatal this season.

In addition to the cases in Hungary and Egypt, Qinghai H5N1 has been confirmed in birds in Nigeria and the Ivory Coast, and a fatal cluster in Nigeria is under investigation.

The recent positive data in Hungary, Egypt, Nigeria, and Ivory Coats raise serious detecting / reporting issues of neighboring countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

The H5N1 reporting / detecting failures remain hazardous to the world?s health.

[Laidback Al]

Re: Suspected bird flu case in Azerbaijan

Health authorities in Azerbaijan are treating a 14-year-old boy for suspected bird flu, the Health Ministry said on Thursday.The boy's sister was one of five people who died last year in an outbreak of H5N1 strain bird flu in the former Soviet republic between Turkey and Russia, the ministry said.

Post #1.


Nabat Askerova (20F) is most likely the sister that died last year.

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.

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

[Niko]

Re: Suspected bird flu case in Azerbaijan

I would tend to give more weight to the statement made by Health Minister's spokesperson,"died on Sunday before his diagnosis could be finally established",over the statement in this article by the Minister of Agriculture.
Test results are pending.

INFORMATION ABOUT BIRD FLU SPREAD IN AZERBAIJAN IS NOT TRUE,

MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE
[January 28, 2007, 14:12:09]

Azerbaijan Minister of Agriculture Ismat Abbasov said information about spread of the deadly bird flu virus across the country is not true.

Commenting on results of the tests on a 14-year-old boy from Salyan province, suspected of having contracted the H5N1 virus, the Minister said they proved negative.

The boy was hospitalized after he fell sick with a high temperature, and local doctors feared he might have contracted bird flu.

But analysis carried out by the Ministry of Agriculture?s Veterinary Service and Ministry of Health found no signs of H5N1.

http://www.azertag.com/en/index.shtm...id=&news_page=

[HenryN]

Re: Suspected human bird flu case in Azerbaijan

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>Boy with suspected bird flu dies in Baku

28.01.2007, 23.23


</TD><TD></TD></TR><TR class=news><TD></TD><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">BAKU, January 28 (Itar-Tass) -- Azhdar Askerov, 14, who was taken to hospital with suspected avian influenza several days ago, died at the Lung Disease Research Institute in Baku on Sunday.
A source at the Azerbaijani Health Ministry said the boy died of pneumonia. A special laboratory of the Agriculture Ministry?s veterinarian service did not find the bird flu virus in the boy?s bloodstream. Nevertheless, blood samples were sent to a London laboratory of the World Health Organization (WHO) for more tests.
Askerov lived in the Salyan district on the bank of the Kura River, where migrant birds hibernate. Several bird flu cases occurred in the area last year. Five people died, including four from the village of Daikend. Three were close relatives of the deceased boy.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=11197610&PageNum=0

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Suspected human bird flu case in Azerbaijan

Analysis of Salyan resident suspected of bird flu and died to be sent to WHO reference laboratory, Jan.31

[ 29 Jan. 2007 12:47 ]

The analysis of Salyan resident, 14 year-old Ajdar Askerov suspected of bird flu and died on January 28 will be sent to World Health Organization reference laboratory on January 31, World Health Organization office in Azerbaijan told the APA.

Azerbaijan has already appealed to the laboratory and asked to announce the results of the analysis in a short time. The results are expected to be announced at the end of this week. The representation said that they regularly inform the WHO head office about the epidemiological situation in Azerbaijan and if bird flu is found, the experts of the organization will possibly visit Azerbaijan.

Health Ministry Sanitary Epidemiological Inspection Department Chief Victor Gasimov told the APA that the H5N1 virus can not remain in the village of Dayikend where it was found in spring last year. ?The remaining period of the virus is 40 days. It does not bear the heat. The virus can not remain in summer,? he said.

He again noted that Askerov has no bird flu symptoms and said that he died of pneumonia.

Head physician of Scientific Institute of Lungs Diseases Khayyam Mammadov told the APA that Askerov was cured of pneumonia and they took all necessary measures. Askerov brought to the institute on January 24 had no H5N1 virus.

State Veterinary Service press secretary Yolchu Khanveli told the APA that there is no bird flu virus in that village. He said that as soon as Askerov was suspected of bird flu State Veterinary Service and Health Ministry reviewed the village.

No death of poultries and wild fowls was observed. He noted as bird flu virus was not confirmed in Dayikend State Veterinary Service sees no need to impose quarantine on that village. /APA/

http://en.apa.az/news.php?id=19964

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: Suspected human bird flu case in Azerbaijan

H5N1 virus can not remain in the village of Dayikend where it was found in spring last year. ?The remaining period of the virus is 40 days. It does not bear the heat. The virus can not remain in summer....

Given that Dayikend is on the Aras River Delta, those asymtomatic wild birds are bound to return to the area.

.