Indonesian Bird Flu Cluster
Nicholas Zamiska reports in The Wall Street Journal about how The World Health Organization is reacting to the recent human H5N1 bird flu cluster in Indonesia. In this unusual case, seven of eight family members living together in close proximity died, apparently indicating human to human transmission of H5N1.
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Of eight Indonesian family members who fell ill, seven have tested positive for bird flu, six of whom have died.
The cluster of cases in the village, in North Sumatra, began after a large group of extended family members gathered in late April, according to Dr. Bjorge. One of the women in the family fell ill. On the night of April 29, a group of about 10 of the family members, including the woman, slept together in the same small room. The woman’s illness worsened quickly, and she died of respiratory disease on May 4, according to the WHO.
Then, in quick succession, six more family members, some of whom had been in the room, fell ill. Shortly afterward, WHO officials in the field heard that another member of the family, a 32-year-old man, also had a fever, but they were unable to find him immediately, Dr. Bjorge said.
“When he was asked for an examination, that’s when he disappeared.” said Dr. Bjorge. “He was clearly running away, because we continued to make inquires as to where he might be, and if he could be examined, and we were rebuffed.”
The 32-year-old man, the father of a 10-year-old boy who died of bird flu on May 13, first developed symptoms on May 15, according to a WHO statement, and died seven days later.
The unusual Indonesian cluster of H5N1 deaths has not put WHO into panic mode?
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“We haven’t seen evidence from Indonesia that the disease is passing easily from human to human.” — Maria Cheng, a spokeswoman for WHO
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The family cluster in an Indonesian village, where seven family members have now died, has heightened concerns that the virus may be able to pass directly between people, although so far there is no sign that it has mutated or even spread beyond the family. Scientists have been on the lookout for such a broader, faster transmission that might indicate the virus had evolved into a form that could spark a pandemic, possibly killing millions.