13-year-old girl is 11th avian flu death this month in Vietnam

[Martin]

13-year-old girl is 11th avian flu death this month in Vietnam


Canadian Press


January 28, 2005


HANOI, Vietnam (AP) - A 13-year-old girl became the latest victim to die from avian flu in Vietnam, bringing the human toll to 11 in the last month, an official said Saturday.

The girl from southern Dong Thap province died Friday night at Pediatric Hospital Number 1 in Ho Chi Minh City, a hospital doctor said on condition of anonymity. Her 35-year-old mother died from avian flu Jan. 21, after the two of them slaughtered a duck, said Nguyen Ngoc An, director of Dong Thap's Preventive Medicine Centre.

Three more people confirmed to have contracted the virus remained in hospital Saturday with a 10-year-old girl from southern Long An province in critical condition in Ho Chi Minh City, while two men from northern Vietnam, ages 66 and 30, were in stable condition in Hanoi.

Meanwhile, a 25-year-old Cambodian woman with avian flu-like symptoms was admitted to a hospital in southern Vietnam and tests were being run to determine if she was infected, officials said. If the virus is confirmed, she would be the first human case outside Vietnam since the outbreak began in December.

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[Martin]

Medical staff on bird flu alert
By Annie Freeda Cruez


The re-emergence of the bird flu in Vietnam and Thailand has prompted the Health Ministry to put its medical staff on 24-hour alert. Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek said all medical staff had been put on alert in the 135 government hospitals and more than 4,000 clinics nationwide to look out for patients with the avian flu symptoms - flu, sore throat, fever, cough or running nose.

"If they notice a sudden increase in people showing these symptoms, they are to immediately check if there has been an unusual number of deaths of birds in the area the victims come from," he added.

It is a must for all hospitals and clinics to immediately alert the State Health Departments if they come across suspected avian flu cases, Chua said after presenting the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) and Halal certification to Sime Oleandar Sdn Bhd for its mineral water plant in Kuching.

He added that it was mandatory for all State Health Departments, private hospitals and clinics to notify the ministry's Communicable Disease Control Division in Putrajaya of suspected bird flu cases.

"Even a one per cent increase in the number of people seeking treatment for influenza needs to be investigated."

He said a team would be sent from the ministry to conduct a thorough investigation into each case besides carrying out surveillance in the area together with the Veterinary Services Department.

Designated wards have been set up in all major hospitals to cater for those showing suspected symptoms of avian flu.

Dr Chua said Malaysia hoped not to be caught off-guard with it mobilising its action plan for the H5N1 virus which has killed 10 people and infected 16 in Vietnam in recent weeks.

An AFP report yesterday said that more than 400 pigeons had been culled in central Thailand after one of them was found infected with a strain of bird flu.

The World Health Organisation has warned of a potential pandemic that could kill millions this winter.

Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand and China have all stocked up on drugs and stepped up their fight against the virus in poultry. However, experts say there is no realistic way to control the virus if it mutates and becomes capable of jumping from human-to-human, who have no immunity.

The virus made its first known jump to humans in Hong Kong in 1997, killing six people. Since late 2003, it has killed 41 in Thailand and Vietnam.

In view of this, Dr Chua urged all farm workers to strictly adhere to personal hygiene and the use of personal protective gears in their place of work.

Dr Chua and Veterinary Services Department Director-General Datuk Dr Hawari Hussein, however, assured Malaysians that the country was free of the avian flu and urged the public to co-operate with the authorities to prevent the virus from coming in.

Dr Hawari also urged farmers to closely monitor all their birds and to report to the authorities if they found an unusually high number of birds dying.



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