India -Suspected human bird flu infections

[Gert van der Hoek]

Has the H5NI strain started to infect humans ?

Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, July 29: Even as the culling exercise is on in full swing under the eyes of the international community following the confirmation of bird flu in the State, a suspected case of the H5NI virus strain infecting human has come in from a place in Imphal East district today.

On immediate receipt of the news of the suspected case, a team of the National Institute of Communicable Diseases along with a medical team of the State Government visited the residence where the suspected case was reported from.

The suspected patient is a 6 year old girl child and she began showing symptoms which are akin to bird flu such as fever and breathing problem.

JN hospital authorities said that Tamiflu has already been administered to the child and she is being kept under constant vigil.

On receiving the information about the suspect case, the isolation ward at JN hospital was kept ready with all the doctors and nurses on the alert.

Later a team from JN hospital went to the residence of the girl where they were told that her conditions had improved slightly.

The advice of the medical team to get her admitted to JN hospital was however turned down by the family members and the girl is kept under close scrutiny at her home.

The parents have however been instructed to bring the girl to the isolation ward immediately if her condition worsens.

It is learnt that the family reared about 200 fowls and above 60 of them had perished during the last few weeks, before the bird flu was officially confirmed.

A number of the family members had developed fever but they all recovered.

The girl is reported to be the last person in the family to develop fever.

http://www.e-pao.net/GP.asp?src=2..300707.jul07

[Sally Furniss]

Re: India, suspected human bird flu infection ?

http://www.kanglaonline.com/index.php?template=headline&newsid=38791&typeid=1

IMPHAL, Jul 29: Even as the state veterinary and animal husbandry department intensified bird culling operations today, one of the workers at the Chingmeirong poultry farm where the bird flu outbreak took place has fallen ill.

Doctors at both JN and RIMS hospitals, where the 40-year worker, an elder brother of the poultry farm owner, was successively admitted last night, were unconvinced that he was suffering from avian influenza, and in fact declined to admit him to the isolation wards being maintained at both hospitals.

Family members however remain apprehensive. S Irananda, the farm owner, said his brother appear to be suffering from all the symptoms of bird flu which were publicized in the media.

Irananda said his brother developed fever yesterday and was admitted to JN hospital at around 4 pm. Doctors at the JN hospital casualty department advised he should be admitted in the general ward for observation. Though the family insisted that he should be admitted in the isolation ward for investigation and observation, the doctors declined and discharged his brother at around 5:30 pm.

Subsequently, after his fever worsened, he was taken again to JN hospital. The family`s request for admitting him in the isolation ward was again denied, Irananda said.

The medical superintendent, JN hospital, Dr Motilal, himself denied that his brother was suffering from bird flu, and told the family that not a single case has been found of human beings being affected by bird flu in India, Irananda said.

Thereafter, the family took the patient to RIMS hospital, where he was admitted in the isolation ward at around 10:00 pm. However, after just half an hour, doctors informed that he should be shifted to the casualty ward.

Unwilling to accept the doctors` decision, the family finally took his brother home, Irananda said.

The patient is curently listed in the RIMS registers as `left against medical advice`.

According to Irananda, his brother was regularly engaged in feeding and taking care of the livestock at their farm. Health department employees have already taken his brother`s blood samples and sent for testing, but the results were not yet available, he said.

He added that health department employees have been administering Tamiflu tablets to 21 people living at the poultry farm and its immediate neighbourhood since July 17, but after July 25, they stopped supplying the tablet.

Irananda also said that though the outbreak which occurred at his farm was confirmed as bird flu on July 25, it was only on July 27, that culling of remaining birds at the farm took place.

Irananda also informed that some of the chickens that died at his Chingmeirong farm had been brought from another farm run by him at Khonghampat, and it was two or three days after they were brought that the mass deaths took place. This has already been informed to the veterinary people, he said.

In the meantime, massive culling of birds in both areas of Imphal west and Imphal East were taken up by rapid reaction teams of the department, covering wide areas of both Imphal districts.

35,000 birds including chickens and ducks were culled by the 34 RRTs deployed today at 30 separate localities in the greater Imphal areas.

The intensified bird cullingt operations were supervised by the central team led by AB. Negi, joint commissioner, department of veterinary and animal Husbandry, dairying and fisheries, Union ministry of agriculture, who have been camping in the state since the middle of the month.

The RRTs covered extensive areas of Laipham Khunou, Paomei colony, Kairang Muslim, Lei Inkhol, Top Dusera, Khurai, Soibam Leikai, Telepati, Moirangkampu, Wangkhei Khunou and Khuma Lampak areas in Imphal East district, and other RRTs also covered the areas of Uripok Assembly constituency, Sagolband Constituency, Thangmeiband, Eroisemba, Keshamthong A/C, in Imphal West district.

Culling of birds in these areas were conducted on random basis without prior information in a bid to prevent transportation of poultry stocks by the local farm owners beyong the five kilometre radius zone.

In the meantime, 15 staffers of the Central Poultry Farm at Mantripukhri run by the state veterinary department, have been kept in quarantine inside the farm since the chickens whose blood sample were found positive for avian influenza were bought from the Central Poultry Farm.

The employees are being kept in quarantine by the state health departmet for medical observation and are not allowed to leave the farm nor are outsiders allowed to enter to the farm, said an official of the veterinary department.

Health directorate sources, confirming this, said there were no symptoms of bird flu among the employees but they are still being kept for the further examination.

The sources added that most areas within the 5 Kms radius zone have been covered in the course of house to house surveillance since last fours days by health department teams, but so far not a single indication of humans suffering from bird flu symptoms have been found. Their surveillance will continue for the next few days.

Meanwhile, several veterinary officials from other North Eastern states have reached Manipur to assist the efforts to contain bird flu. Among them, K.C. Bhutia joint secretary, in the government of Sikkim has arrived in Imphal today while four officials of Meghalaya veterinary department are also due to reach the state capital.

[HenryN]

Re: India, suspected human bird flu infection ?

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="93%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width="100%">Suspected bird flu patient refused isolation ward seat at hospital </B>
Jinendra Maibam

IMPHAL, Jul 29: Even as the state veterinary and animal husbandry department intensified bird culling operations today, one of the workers at the Chingmeirong poultry farm where the bird flu outbreak took place has fallen ill.

Doctors at both JN and RIMS hospitals, where the 40-year worker, an elder brother of the poultry farm owner, was successively admitted last night, were unconvinced that he was suffering from avian influenza, and in fact declined to admit him to the isolation wards being maintained at both hospitals.

Family members however remain apprehensive. S Irananda, the farm owner, said his brother appear to be suffering from all the symptoms of bird flu which were publicized in the media.

Irananda said his brother developed fever yesterday and was admitted to JN hospital at around 4 pm. Doctors at the JN hospital casualty department advised he should be admitted in the general ward for observation. Though the family insisted that he should be admitted in the isolation ward for investigation and observation, the doctors declined and discharged his brother at around 5:30 pm.

Subsequently, after his fever worsened, he was taken again to JN hospital. The family`s request for admitting him in the isolation ward was again denied, Irananda said.

The medical superintendent, JN hospital, Dr Motilal, himself denied that his brother was suffering from bird flu, and told the family that not a single case has been found of human beings being affected by bird flu in India, Irananda said.

Thereafter, the family took the patient to RIMS hospital, where he was admitted in the isolation ward at around 10:00 pm. However, after just half an hour, doctors informed that he should be shifted to the casualty ward.

Unwilling to accept the doctors` decision, the family finally took his brother home, Irananda said.

The patient is curently listed in the RIMS registers as `left against medical advice`.

According to Irananda, his brother was regularly engaged in feeding and taking care of the livestock at their farm. Health department employees have already taken his brother`s blood samples and sent for testing, but the results were not yet available, he said.

He added that health department employees have been administering Tamiflu tablets to 21 people living at the poultry farm and its immediate neighbourhood since July 17, but after July 25, they stopped supplying the tablet.

Irananda also said that though the outbreak which occurred at his farm was confirmed as bird flu on July 25, it was only on July 27, that culling of remaining birds at the farm took place.

Irananda also informed that some of the chickens that died at his Chingmeirong farm had been brought from another farm run by him at Khonghampat, and it was two or three days after they were brought that the mass deaths took place. This has already been informed to the veterinary people, he said.

In the meantime, massive culling of birds in both areas of Imphal west and Imphal East were taken up by rapid reaction teams of the department, covering wide areas of both Imphal districts.

35,000 birds including chickens and ducks were culled by the 34 RRTs deployed today at 30 separate localities in the greater Imphal areas.

The intensified bird cullingt operations were supervised by the central team led by AB. Negi, joint commissioner, department of veterinary and animal Husbandry, dairying and fisheries, Union ministry of agriculture, who have been camping in the state since the middle of the month.

The RRTs covered extensive areas of Laipham Khunou, Paomei colony, Kairang Muslim, Lei Inkhol, Top Dusera, Khurai, Soibam Leikai, Telepati, Moirangkampu, Wangkhei Khunou and Khuma Lampak areas in Imphal East district, and other RRTs also covered the areas of Uripok Assembly constituency, Sagolband Constituency, Thangmeiband, Eroisemba, Keshamthong A/C, in Imphal West district.

Culling of birds in these areas were conducted on random basis without prior information in a bid to prevent transportation of poultry stocks by the local farm owners beyong the five kilometre radius zone.

In the meantime, 15 staffers of the Central Poultry Farm at Mantripukhri run by the state veterinary department, have been kept in quarantine inside the farm since the chickens whose blood sample were found positive for avian influenza were bought from the Central Poultry Farm.

The employees are being kept in quarantine by the state health departmet for medical observation and are not allowed to leave the farm nor are outsiders allowed to enter to the farm, said an official of the veterinary department.

Health directorate sources, confirming this, said there were no symptoms of bird flu among the employees but they are still being kept for the further examination.

The sources added that most areas within the 5 Kms radius zone have been covered in the course of house to house surveillance since last fours days by health department teams, but so far not a single indication of humans suffering from bird flu symptoms have been found. Their surveillance will continue for the next few days.

Meanwhile, several veterinary officials from other North Eastern states have reached Manipur to assist the efforts to contain bird flu. Among them, K.C. Bhutia joint secretary, in the government of Sikkim has arrived in Imphal today while four officials of Meghalaya veterinary department are also due to reach the state capital.

http://www.kanglaonline.com/index.ph...38791&typeid=1
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: India -Suspected human bird flu infections

Culling still on, public health comes into focus


IMPHAL, Jul 30 : Even as 11,350 birds including ducks and fowls were culled as of 3.30 pm today by personnel of the 34 RRT personnel pressed into service at different places in Imphal East and West, public health has started to come into the focus of the Government machineries.

Adding to the anxiety sounded over the health of the people, an employee of the State Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Department had to be admitted to JN hospital today at about 11.30 am due to excess bleeding caused by piles.

Putting to rest all speculations and anxiety, Superintendent of JN Hospital Dr Motilal said that the employee has been admitted to the hospital due to excessive bleeding caused by piles.

The employee however has been kept at the isolation ward of the hospital, as he was physically engaged in culling the birds during the last four days.
The employee is identified as Angom Surjamani (50) of Awang Sekmai.

On the case of the girl child who was administered Tamiflu yesterday and who is still at home because her parents have refused to admit her to the isolation ward, much against the advice of the medical personnel, Dr Motilal said that her condition is being monitored.

Two doctors, a paediatric specialist, Dr Narayanbabu and Chest Specialist Dr Shashikumar supervised the state of the child today, said the Superintendent and added Tamiflu syrup was administered to the child today too.

The child, was advised to be admitted to the hospital after she showed symptoms of bird flu yesterday.

On the other hand, Health Minister Ph Parijat has asserted that the health threat posed by the outbreak of H5NI type Avian Influenza at Imphal is fully under control and there is no case of the virus infecting human being.
Speaking to the media, the Health Minister informed that the State Government has already sanctioned Rs 24.29 lakhs to fight the spread of the virus to human beings. Moreover, besides sending equipments worth Rs 40 lakhs including two respiratory ventilators, the Centre has also despatched medical experts to supervise the surveillance exercise.

The ventilators are fitted at the 10-bedded isolation ward kept reserved at JN Hospital, Porompat, he said, while lauding the health RRT members for their dedicated works in fight against further spread of Bird flu.

State Health Secretary P Vaiphei said the surveillance exercise would continue for another few days even though the area within the designated 3 kms radius has been already covered.

Dr P Ravindran , a representative of the Union Ministry of Health who is supervising the current health surveillance task said ?the State Health teams are working in an appreciable manner.

?Now we are thinking of taking up another round of surveillance work at other districts. For this the State Government is also preparing to organise a workshop here with all representatives of the districts so that they can study the surveillance methods done by the Imphal team?.

Meanwhile, the RRT personnel of the Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Department continued with its culling drive for the fifth day today.
Culling was carried out at Raj Bhawan too today where 12 Vincova breed ducks were reared.

Though the culling process will continue tomorrow, teams will be sent to the zones within the designated 10 kms radius to investigate the reports of unnatural deaths of fowls, which have been pouring in at the Control room set up in the Veterinary office.

Even today, the Control room received reports of the deaths of 240 fowls at Khurai Kongpal Sajor. The birds reportedly perished one after the other during the last few days.

Many calls continue to pour into the Control room, with many urging the RRT personnel to pick up the birds left behind in the last drive.

On the other hand two officials arrived from Mizoram today to over see the situation. Earlier a one member team from Sikkim arrived yesterday.

A team from Meghalaya was supposed to arrive today, but there is no confirmation of their arrival.

http://www.thesangaiexpress.com/News_pages/Local_page-01.htm

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: India -Suspected human bird flu infections

Minister allays flu fears

No report of avian influenza among Manipur villagers

Imphal, July 30: Health workers have not found a single instance of bird flu passing to humans in Manipur.

Announcing this today, state health and family welfare minister P. Parijat told the media: ?Health check-ups conducted on over 2.5 lakh people within a 5-km radius of the affected zone in Imphal have confirmed that there is no threat to humans, as no one is found to be affected by the H5N1 virus.
?Please don?t spread rumours. There is no reason to panic. The culling operation is under way as a precautionary measure.?

Parijat?s clarification followed reports that a seven-year-old girl from Imphal East had been brought to Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital here last evening by her parents who fear that she might have contracted avian influenza.

Denying such reports, the minister said: ?According to doctors? report, the girl is down with normal fever and her blood pressure is high. It is not a case of bird flu.?

The health department, however, today sent a team of doctors to her home. Her identity has not been disclosed. She is taking Tamiflu tablets as prescribed by the physicians. ?The girl is under observation,? a source in the department said.

Panic spread among members of the rapid response teams (RRT) this morning when one of their colleagues, Angom Surjamani, complained of rectal bleeding before they started culling operations. They were later informed that he was suffering from piles.

Surjamani, 50, is now in the isolation ward of Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital for observation.

Parijat said the culling operations had been successful. In the past five days, nearly 1.5 lakh chickens within the 5-km radius of the Chingmeirong farm have been culled and buried.

Parijat said the state health department has sent 20 RRT teams to conduct surveys in the affected zone.

Each team is led by a doctor and has three supervisors and 30 workers. A total of 680 health personnel have spread across 20 villages to conduct the check-ups.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070731/asp/northeast/story_8128133.asp

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: India -Suspected human bird flu infections

India monitors four children after bird flu outbreak

Wed 1 Aug 2007 15:13:07 BST

NEW DELHI, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Health officials in India were monitoring four children suffering from fever on Wednesday after they had contact with dead or sick poultry in Manipur state, where authorities are fighting a bird flu outbreak in fowl.

The children have been restricted to their homes and are being visited twice a day by medical professionals, said Vineet Chawdhry, joint secretary in the ministry of health.

"We are being extra careful," Chawdhry said, adding that throat swabs and blood samples taken from the children had been sent to a federal laboratory, where tests for the H5N1 strain of bird flu will be carried out.

The children live within a 5-km (3-mile) radius of a small poultry farm where more than 130 chickens died last month from the H5N1 virus.

Health officials have checked more than 235,000 people around the affected farm since the weekend for flu symptoms, while veterinary workers have culled a similar number of birds in the remote northeastern state.

India had two major flare-ups of bird flu in its western region last year.

Manipur neighbours Myanmar, which has battled several outbreaks of bird flu in chickens this year, including one reported last week.

Globally, at least 192 people have died due to bird flu out of 319 cases since 2003, the World Health Organisation says.

The H5N1 strain remains mainly a bird virus but experts fear it may mutate into a form that passes easily between humans, triggering an influenza epidemic in which millions could die.

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/CrisesArticle.aspx?rpc=401&storyId=DEL41214

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: India -Suspected human bird flu infections

Has bird flu infected humans?

3 Aug 2007

NEW DELHI: Four children, all under 14 years, from a farm in Chingmeirong village in Manipur have been quarantined and administered Tamiflu, the most affective antibiotic against bird flu, after investigations revealed that they had handled dead poultry in their farm, soon after the disease was detected in dead chickens from a nearby farm.

All of them, part of the same household, were found suffering from fever and throat infection by health officials carrying out door-to-door surveillance on humans, within the 5-km radius of this year's bird flu outbreak site.

The throat swabs of the four children have been sent to National Institute of Communicable Diseases in Delhi and National Institute of Virology, Pune, for testing.

Till now, all those who have been infected in bird-flu outbreaks across the globe have actually been poultry workers who came in contact with infected birds.

The WHO says, globally at least 192 people have died due to bird flu out of 319 cases since 2003. The next 24 hours will be a nervous wait for the government and India's health experts as results of these tests are expected on Friday morning.

India has not reported a single human infection with the H5N1 virus till now. What's worrying the health ministry officials most is the fact that they don't know whether the chicken that died in the farm of these four teenagers had been infected with H5N1 or not.

This is because soon after the government announced the outbreak, the four sold off their stock of 120 birds to a nearby hotel owner. So, the scientists failed to collect samples of these birds.

Interestingly, the teenagers also confessed to health officials of having eaten some of the dead chickens. Chicken cooked at over 70 degrees Celsius is safe as the virus gets killed.

Speaking to TOI, a health ministry official, who did not want to name the teenagers and also the farm for safety reasons, said, "No unusual mortality was reported from the farm of these four teenagers.

ut investigations did reveal that some birds had died at their farm the same time as bird flu was detected in a neighbouring unit. Because the flu scare made them sell off their entire stock, we couldn't get samples for testing.

That's why we don't know whether the birds were sick or not. We are concerned about these four cases and hope its isn't H5N1."

On July 25, India's department of animal husbandry announced that the deadly virus had returned to haunt India for the second year in a row, with this year's outbreak being reported from a small poultry farm in Chingmeirong village of East Imphal district in Manipur.

Over 132 bird samples from this farm tested positive with the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Has_bird_flu_infected_humans/articleshow/2252029.cms

[Sally Furniss]

Re: India -Suspected human bird flu infections

Four Indian children test negative for bird flu

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/DEL78882.htm

NEW DELHI, Aug 3 (Reuters) - India has completed health checks on thousands of people after an outbreak of bird flu in the remote northeast, and cleared four boys who had been suffering from fever after handling dead or sick poultry.

Throat swab and tissue samples of the four boys had been sent for testing but no sign of bird flu was found.

"They are negative," Vineet Chawdhry, a joint secretary in India's health ministry, told Reuters on Friday.

Thousands of people in Manipur state in India's northeast were also checked by health officials after the outbreak of the H5N1 strain of bird flu in chickens on a small poultry farm.

Globally, the H5N1 virus has killed at least 192 people out of 319 who have been affected since late 2003, with health experts fearing it could one day mutate into a form that could pass easily between humans, triggering a pandemic.

In Manipur, the boys -- who media reports say are all under 14 -- lived within a 5-km (3 mile) radius of the affected farm. Another 21 people living or working on the farm and nine veterinary workers were also tested and cleared earlier.

The Indian state shares a border with Myanmar, where there have been multiple outbreaks of bird flu this year, including two in July alone.

Authorities in Manipur stopped culling operations on Thursday in Manipur after killing and burying nearly 300,000 fowl.

But officials in Tripura, another northeastern state, were on alert against bird flu after around 300 chicken died in a district bordering Bangladesh, where avian flu has spread to a number of areas this year, infecting large numbers of poultry.

An official in the state said chicken blood and tissue samples had been sent to a federal laboratory for testing.

India had two major outbreaks of the H5N1 virus in chickens last year in its western region but has not reported any human case yet. (Additional reporting by Biswajyoti Das in Guwahati)

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: India -Suspected human bird flu infections

India quarantines 51 people in bird flu-hit state

03 Aug 2007

Source: Reuters

NEW DELHI, Aug 3 (Reuters) - India has quarantined 51 people in the remote northeastern state of Manipur following an outbreak of the H5N1 strain of influenza in chickens last month, a senior official said on Friday.

"Since all these people had worked in culling or sanitising operations or monitoring people's health around the affected poultry farm they have to be quarantined and monitored," said Vineet Chawdhry, joint secretary in the health ministry.

Most had complained of being "unwell", he added, but did not say whether any had flu-like symptoms.

All 51 were on Tamiflu, the popular drug to prevent and treat bird flu, as a precaution, the health ministry said.

Hundreds of cullers were involved in killing nearly 300,000 fowl over the past week in Manipur, a state bordering Myanmar that saw two outbreaks of bird flu in chickens in July alone.

The culling, which took place within a 5-km (3-mile) radius around the affected poultry farm near Imphal, capital of Manipur, ended on Thursday.

Health officials have completed checks of around 235,000 people in the area, but said they would closely monitor the situation.

Globally, the H5N1 virus has killed at least 192 people out of 319 who have been affected since late 2003, with health experts fearing it could one day mutate into a form that could pass easily between humans, triggering a pandemic.

On Friday, authorities cleared four boys who had been suffering from fever after handling dead or sick poultry in Manipur.

But officials in Tripura, another northeast Indian state, were on alert after around 500 chickens died in a commercial poultry farm in a district bordering Bangladesh, where avian flu has spread to a number of areas this year.

Officials said blood and tissue samples had been sent for testing, but added they suspected the deaths to be caused by infectious bursal disease, a viral illness, along with coccidiosis, a parasitic illness found in animals.

Western India had two major outbreaks of the H5N1 virus in chickens last year, but has not yet reported any human case.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/DEL107380.htm