#1360
Yesterday, I wrote:
"I don't think at this point we have an accurate account of what is going on over there yet. Each news article differs from the last. It may be some time before we can piece all of this together into a coherent story."
While a bit of an understatement, that may turn out to be the most accurate thing I said all day.
Yes, gentle readers, the story has changed again. Expanded actually, with the following news report published in Dawn. First the story, then some discussion.
A Hat Tip to Crof, on Crofsblog, for posting this article.
Five cases of bird flu confirmed
By Baqir Sajjad Syed
ISLAMABAD, Dec 14:
The Health Ministry on Friday confirmed that five people had been affected by bird flu, but challenged the veracity of two reported deaths linked to the H5N1 infection.
Confirming the bird flu cases, federal health secretary Khushnood Lashri said the infected patients had been quarantined and precautionary steps were being taken in cooperation with the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock to check further spread of the disease.
Three of the patients are in a hospital in Mansehra and the other two cases have been reported from Peshawar. One of the patients had been discharged from the hospital after recovery, health authorities said.
The last confirmed case had been reported on Dec 5 and there had been no fresh case, a senior health official said.
Stocks of Tamiflu, an antiviral drug used for influenza virus, have been rushed to the affected districts to meet any eventuality.
The two brothers, who were reported to have died of bird flu, were poultry workers and related to two other patients. However, the authorities were still trying to determine if the recent cases involved human-to-human transmission.
Most human cases of H5N1 are linked to contact with infected birds, but experts fear the virus might mutate into a form that spreads easily among humans, potentially sparking a pandemic that could kill a large number of people.
Human-to-human transmissions are extremely rare, with only three previous cases in Indonesia, Cambodia and Vietnam.
Mr Lashari said there was not enough evidence that the two casualties in Peshawar were victims of bird flu.
“Two brothers died from pneumonia-like symptoms, but were buried by family members before health officials could take blood samples to test for the virus.”
If this version of the story is to be believed (hey, burn me six times in 24 hours, I start to get skeptical) we now have 5 confirmed, LIVING H5N1 victims in Pakistan right now, and 2 suspected victims who died without testing.
Or a grand total of 7 people known to be, or suspected of being infected.
These cases appear to stem from at least two separate locations. The article states that - three of the cases were in Mansehra two cases were from Peshawar - which are some distance from each other.
Whether there is any truth to the original story of the veterinarian, Dr. Durrani, and his brothers, is impossible to tell from this latest article. The detail of the earlier reports lended to their credibility, while this report doesn't name names at all.
The Health Ministry appears to be trying to distance themselves from any confirmation of the two fatalities, which were heralded by newspapers around the world yesterday. I'm sure they are hoping to control panic, and are trying to `spin' this story as best they can.
Are we to assume that the two suspected fatalities were never treated in a hospital? That they died at home? Otherwise, why was blood not drawn?
There are just too many holes in this current version, and so while I present it, I do so without a lot of faith that we have anything resembling the whole story yet.
About the only thing we know for sure is that for the last month there have been multiple human H5N1 infections occurring in Pakistan, and we are only just now getting official confirmation.
So much for transparency.
