# 2539
Whenever there is a large outbreak of bird flu among poultry there is always the fear that the virus will jump to humans.
Cullers, who will have close contact will thousands of birds, are (in most cases) provided with PPE's (Personal Protective Equipment) and placed on Tamiflu. Farm workers are also often provided with the antiviral.
And authorities watch, and wait . . . and pray that human cases don't show up in the community. They often go door-to-door checking on residents, looking for people who show influenza-like symptoms.
Of course, particularly during the winter, regular influenza is pretty common. It makes it very difficult to differentiate between bird flu, and regular seasonal flu - particularly early in an illness.
The prudent thing to do is to treat any suspected case of bird flu seriously, even though the odds are that it will turn out to be something more mundane, like seasonal flu.
While there are no confirmed cases of human bird flu in Assam, India, authorities are exercising understandable caution. They are setting up isolation areas, bringing in supplies, and conducting medical surveillance.
A hat tip to Dutchy on Flutrackers for this report from Reuters.
Fears of human bird flu cases rise in India's Assam
12 Dec 2008
Source: Reuters
By Biswajyoti DasGUWAHATI, India, Dec 12 (Reuters) - India is sending bird flu experts to the northeastern state of Assam and setting up isolation units to treat up to 90 people showing signs of the virus, health authorities said on Friday.
Health workers have yet to confirm any human cases of H5N1, but they said some patients were suffering from fever and respiratory infections, which are symptoms of the virus in humans.
Veterinary officials in Assam state, which is rich in tea and oil, have slaughtered more than 250,000 chickens and ducks in the past two weeks, after the virus was detected in poultry last month in a village close to Guwahati, the region's main city.
New Delhi has rushed federal medical experts, including epidemiologists and microbiologists, to the affected areas.
"We have set up isolation facilities to treat those patients," Himanta Biswa Sarma, Assam's health minister, said.
"So far none of the patients has a history of contact with infected poultry, but we are taking no chances. If the disease is transmitted to humans it will be a big disaster," Sarma said.
The medical teams brought supplies of equipment as a preventative measure in case the virus spreads to humans, including 10,000 Tamiflu capsules, 6,000 surgical masks and two ventilators.
