WHO: H5N1 infection may be due to close contact and for too long

Joned Ginting, the only family survivor in Sumatra According to Maria Cheng, a spokesman for the World Health Organization (WHO) in Indonesia, seven members of a family in northern Sumatra island died in May. Because bird flu can be caused by mutual infection.

According to witnesses and the only survivor in this family - Mr. Joned Ginting, his relatives died one by one within three weeks. On April 29, his sister coughed all night in a cramped room living with her two sons and a 32-year-old younger brother.

These four people are all dead now. Four other family members living close by were also infected and died, except for Ginting.

On May 25, 2006 in Hanoi, the plenipotentiary ambassador to the Czech Republic in Vietnam Ivo Zdarek handed over to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development 40 tons of antiseptic chemicals worth 200,000 USD by the Czech Republic aid to prevent bird flu in Vietnam .

T.Trúc - VNA

WHO believes that this family case may be only rare and the cause of infection may be due to long-term and too close contact with an infected person. However, medical experts have asked 33 people who have been in contact with the seven victims to take self-isolation measures at home to prevent infection. These people will get a health check in the next one or two weeks.

Dick Thompson, a WHO spokesman, said the samples of the virus in the group of seven victims were sent to the laboratory in Hong Kong and there was no indication that they had mutated into a form. more contagious.

As for the question of what is the source of the disease in this family in northern Sumatra, Indonesian and WHO health experts still have no answers.

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