Credit FAO/ECTAD
# 7022
On March 12th the FAO’s EMPRES Alert system carried a small item indicating that an FAO field officer had reported on a human H5N1 infection in Bagoor, Al Minufiyah (Egypt).
Although we sometimes see these sparse reports coming across the transom, without more in the way of detail, there’s really not much point in my blogging about them.
Today, via FAO’s Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD) - HPAI report (h/t to Biological on FluTrackers), we get a few additional details on that case, which are presented below:
19/03/13 – Confirmed H5 HPAI outbreak in a human, Menofia (FAO Field Officer)
A 40-year old female from Bagoor District, Menofia Governorate developed symptoms on 3 March 2013 and tested positive for influenza A (H5N1) virus by RT-PCR at the Central Public Health Laboratories (NIC) on 11 March 2013.
Investigations into the source of infection revealed that the case had close contact with sick and dead backyard poultry (ducks and chickens) a few days before the onset of symptoms. Of the 171 cases confirmed to date in Egypt, 61 have been fatal.
You’ll also find the weekly ECTAD report contains summaries of confirmed H5N1 HPAI outbreaks in the African, European, and Asian Regions.
Current and past reports may be accessed at this Link.
Although we continue to see widely scattered, and sporadic human infections with the H5N1 virus, we’ve yet to see any signs of efficient human-to-human transmission.
For now, H5N1 is primarily a threat to poultry, and to a lesser extent, those who work in close contract with infected birds.
Nevertheless, as long as this virus circulates in the wild, the potential for this status quo to change exists.
