Credit WHO
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While far outpaced by the newly emerging H7N9 avian flu virus, H5N1 remains endemic among poultry and migratory birds in a number of countries, and continues to occasionally jump to humans.
Over the past 6 weeks the World Health Organization has been notified of 6 infections, from four different countries; Egypt, Vietnam, Cambodia, and China.
For the past few months the WHO has been updating the H5N1 situation on a monthly basis. Here is the latest report, covering cases reported between March 12, 2013 and today.
Influenza at the human-animal interface
Summary and assessment as of 26 April 2013
Human infection with avian influenza A(H5N1) viruses and associated animal health events
From 2003 through 26 April 2013, 628 laboratory-confirmed human cases with avian influenza A(H5N1) virus infection have been officially reported to WHO from 15 countries, of which 374 died.
Since the last update on 12 March 2013, 6 new laboratory-confirmed human cases with influenza A(H5N1) virus infection were reported to WHO from Bangladesh (1), Cambodia (1), Egypt (2 ) and Viet Nam (2). The investigations into these concluded that they were sporadic cases and that the appearance of sporadic cases is expected and will likely occur in the future.
Since the beginning of 2013, Cambodia has reported ten human cases with influenza A(H5N1) virus infection including eight fatal cases. These cases come from five provinces all located in southern Cambodia. These cases do not seem to be linked directly, and most had contact with sick poultry in their villages. The clade 1.1 viruses that have been isolated from cases are very similar to those isolated from poultry in the region. Investigations around these cases did not detect additional cases.
This evidence suggests sporadic infections from exposure to infected poultry or contaminated environments, rather than human-to-human transmission. It has been suggested that the A(H5N1) virus is circulating endemically in poultry in Cambodia1, as such, additional sporadic human cases might be expected.
Public health risk assessment of avian influenza A(H5N1) viruses: Any time influenza viruses are circulating in poultry, sporadic infections or small clusters of human cases are possible especially in people exposed to infected poultry kept in households or contaminated environments. However, currently, this A(H5N1) virus does not appear to transmit easily among people and therefore the likelihood of community level spread of this virus remains low. Therefore, the public health risk associated with this virus remains unchanged.
You’ll find additional details on some of these recent cases in the following blogs:
