Brother And Sister Die Of Bird Flu In Indonesia

Preliminary test results indicate that an 18-year-old male and his 10-year-old sister, from West Java, Indonesia, were infected with the H5N1 bird flu virus strain. They both died within hours of each other last Tuesday, one day after being admitted to hospital in Bandung.


The lab tests are being sent to WHO labs for confirmation. Out of 124 confirmed human bird flu deaths worldwide, 33 have taken place in Indonesia - this number does not include the two deaths reported here.


Indonesian authorities said they will strictly enforce laws to stem the spread of bird flu - this includes jailing people, under Anti-Epidemy Law, who hinder efforts to combat H5N1. This could include people who refuse to submit themselves or their animals for tests.


In the village where 7 family members became infected with H5N1, authorities have asked 30 people to quarantine themselves. 6 of the seven family members have died. This cluster of 7 is the largest so far. WHO believes some of them infected each other, raising concerns that H5N1 may be evolving into a more effective human-to-human transmitter.


The seven infected people shared a small room. H5N1 has always had the ability to transmit from human-to-human, albeit with great difficulty. For a human to infect another human there has to be a great deal of close, continuous physical contact - something which definitely happens when seven people share a small room. Some scientists are surprised that such a large number became infected, if the transmission was really from human to human.


However, if H5N1 had mutated and learnt how to effectively become a human transmissible disease, more people in the village would have become infected. No other human infections have been identified. There is no evidence of any animal source for this cluster. This does not mean there was not any. If a sick bird had been found, it may have been disposed of and the area cleaned before authorities had a chance to check the place out.


The World Health Organization (WHO) has decided not to raise the level of alert, as it believes H5N1 has not mutated yet.


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