# 4623
We haven’t heard of a human infection from H5N1 out of China in more than a year, although it is generally acknowledged that surveillance and/or reporting on bird flu from that nation is often less than optimal.
Today, however, we have a report from the Hangzhou Network of a 22 year-old woman from Ezhou City, who appears to have died from the virus on June 3rd after 10 days of illness.
The information we have right now is based on machine translations of an article in the Chinese language, and such translations are oft times a bit murky.
Investigators are denying any outbreak of bird flu in poultry in Ezhou City. Close contacts of the victim are under medical surveillance, but thus far, appear to be healthy.
A hat tip to Treyfish on FluTrackers for posting this report. I’ll return with some comments regarding the potential role of asymptomatic chickens in this case.
010-06-04 20:08:07 Hangzhou Network
June 4, 2010
Ministry of Health Press Office
Patients Chen, F, 22 years old, pregnant in April, jobless, living in Ezhou City of Hubei Province. Patients on May 23, 2010 the disease exacerbations after hospitalization. Because patients in critical condition, after rescue the invalid, in at 0:35 on the June 3 death.
The evening of June 2, Centre for Disease Control and Prevention of Hubei Province in patients with respiratory tract samples, and the results for the H5N1 avian influenza virus nucleic acid positive.
June 4, the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention in patients with respiratory tract samples for review, and the results for the H5N1 avian influenza virus nucleic acid positive.
Virus isolation work in progress. Flow of local health departments Epidemiological surveys show that patients with sick and dead poultry before the onset of a history of exposure.
Ministry of Agriculture sent a work group and expert veterinary departments in Hubei Province to carry out in conjunction with epidemiological investigations and laboratory testing of poultry, poultry influenza outbreak was not found locally.
According to the WHO confirmed human infection with highly pathogenic avian influenza case definition and diagnostic criteria of China, Ministry of Health bird flu prevention and control expert who determined that the man infected with highly pathogenic bird flu case confirmed cases.
After the outbreak, the local government attaches great importance, have been "highly pathogenic avian influenza contingency plans" to take the appropriate control measures. All close contacts of the strict medical observation, as of now no abnormal clinical manifestations.The situation of the patient, the Ministry of Health has informed WHO and Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan regions.
More than a year ago, before the novel H1N1 virus captured all of the headlines, we were watching massive outbreaks of H5N1 in Chinese poultry, and hearing repeated warnings of avian vaccine failures (see Zhong Nanshan On Asymptomatic Poultry).
Is China Making Its Bird-Flu Outbreak Worse?
By Austin Ramzy / Beijing Friday, Feb. 13, 2009
Farmers prepare to bury dead chickens on Feb. 5 in Chongqing, China, where since Jan. 30 nearly 12,000 chickens have been found dead in a local village. The cause of the deaths is still not determined
China, with more than a billion hungry mouths to feed, has relied heavily on vaccines to protect their massive poultry industry from the H5N1 bird flu virus.
This despite warnings from the OIE (World Organization For Animal Health) which has long maintained that vaccination of poultry cannot be considered a long-term solution to combating the avian flu virus.
In Avian influenza and vaccination: what is the scientific recommendation?, the OIE reiterates their strong recommendation that humane culling be employed to control avian influenza, and advising that vaccines should only be used as a temporary measure.
While the OIE concedes that some nations may require the use of vaccines for `several years', they strongly urge that countries move away from that program and towards the more conventional culling policy.
Vaccines are a particularly attractive solution to countries where poultry makes up a substantial portion of some of their people’s wealth and/or food security.
Culling – while often more effective in controlling bird flu - is traumatic, expensive, and often difficult to implement - which has presented a dilemma to governments in places like Egypt, India, Indonesia, and China.
The down side to vaccines is that, over time, the virus can evolve to evade the protective shield offered by the injection, and can infect and spread in poultry `silently’, without showing classic symptoms.
It remains to be seen how this unfortunate woman came to become infected with the H5N1 virus, or whether asymptomatic poultry had any role.
Hopefully we’ll get more information over the coming days.
