# 1331
The father of the man who died last week from H5N1 has now been diagnosed as having the disease.
Exactly how he came to become infected has not been established, although the WHO says they cannot rule out Human-to-human transmission.
World Health Organization confirms father of Chinese bird flu victim also infected
BEIJING (AP) -- The father of a Chinese man who died of bird flu has also been infected with the H5N1 virus that causes the disease, the World Health Organization reported Friday, saying it could not rule out the possibility of human-to-human infection.
Joanna Brent, a Beijing-based WHO spokeswoman, said the father began presenting symptoms on Monday and was confirmed as having the virus on Wednesday. She said he was being monitored in hospital.
"Because the possibility of human to human transmission cannot be ruled out, we will be monitoring this case closely," Brent told The Associated Press.
"If it is found to be easily passed between humans, we would be concerned," Brent said.
Brent said there was no evidence that the man had been infected by his 24-year-old son, who died on Dec. 2, but said the possibility could not yet be eliminated. Chinese news reports gave the man's age as 52. Both he and his son, who lived in the eastern province of Jiangsu, were identified only by their surname, Lu.
Brent said it was also possible that both men were infected by the same bird, or that they were infected separately from different sources.
Brent said health authorities were monitoring another 68 people who were in close contact with the son, none of whom have so far shown symptoms of H5N1 infection. She said that seemed to indicate that it was unlikely that the virus was being easily passed between humans.
This AP report has considerably more detail than the Xinhua report, which interestingly fails to mention the relationship between the two patients.
Second human case of bird flu in East China province, after first victim dies
www.chinaview.cn
2007-12-07 23:13:13
NANJING, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- East China's Jiangsu Province has confirmed another case of a human infected by bird flu after one person died in the province early this week, according to the Chinese Ministry of Health.
The son developed symptoms on November 22nd, and was hospitalized on November 27th. He died on December 2nd.
The father began showing symptoms the following day, December 3rd, or 11 days after the son fell ill.
While not proof of H2H transmission, this time gap certainly is suggestive of that possibility.
Obviously this case bears close scrutiny.
