Update: Feb 11th, 0500 hrs
Media reports now indicate these two cases were co-infected with H1N1 & Influenza B, and not with an avian flu virus. They remain hospitalized, in isolation, but Vietnam's 4+ year streak without a reported human H5 case continues.
#13,846
Vietnam was once a hotbed of avian flu - and human H5N1 infections - but it's been more than 4 years since the last human case was confirmed in that country (see WHO Chart above), and outbreaks in poultry - while they still occur - have been greatly subdued.
Despite this remarkable success story, over the past few years two new avian threats have been added to the mix, which have raised concerns.
- During the summer of 2014, shortly after China reported their first H5N6 fatality in Sichuan Province, Vietnam began to report scattered outbreaks in poultry. Since then China has reported nearly 2 dozen human cases, but thus far Vietnam has only seen the virus in poultry.
- While China has largely controlled their H7N9 crisis, the virus has been reported several times very near the border with Vietnam - and there are serious concerns it could turn up in Vietnam (see China's Nervous Neighbors).
This week is the Lunar New Year. In Vietnam, it is called Tết Nguyên Đán or Feast of the First Morning. Tết for short. During this time millions of Asians will travel home for traditional family gatherings, taking part in the largest annual human migration on earth.As always, with this much intermixing of people, and traveling - often in crowded conveyances - we worry about the carriage and transmission of communicable diseases. Avian flu is often mentioned, but there are other common threats as well, including measles, mumps, seasonal flu, etc.
While it may well turn out to be something far less exotic, overnight there are multiple reports in the Vietnamese press of two patients - admitted with severe pneumonia - being tested for avian flu at the Bach Mai Hospital in Hanoi.
Typical of the reporting is this translated report, from the VN Express.
Friday, 8/2/2019, 15:35 (GMT + 7)While Vietnam's recent history suggests these cases are something other than avian flu, six years ago this month we were watching 3 serous pneumonia cases in Eastern China that - more than a month later - were announced to be the first human cases of H7N9.
Two people with severe pneumonia are suspected to be infected with bird flu
These are 2 suspected cases after many years without detecting any cases of influenza A (H5N1) infection.
According to a quick report of the Ministry of Health, on February 6, the second Lunar New Year, Bach Mai Hospital (Hanoi) recorded two people with severe pneumonia suspected of being infected with dangerous bird flu.
These two cases are being investigated by the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology and taking samples for testing. Results will be available in the next few days.
According to the Department of Animal Health, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, there is no outbreak of avian influenza in poultry in the country, but it does not exclude the possibility that avian influenza appears on humans.
According to the Ministry of Health, during the 6 Lunar New Year holidays, there was no case of measles and streptococcus disease, only some dengue outbreaks in An Giang, Ba Ria - Vung Tau and Ben Tre. There is also a mumps outbreak in Ben Tre. At the Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of these 3 provinces, the outbreak has been handled according to regulations.
So we remain ever vigilant, just in case.
