Second Turkish child dies from bird flu

[Necie]

Seems kinda ominous

 

Second Turkish child dies from bird flu

Thu Jan 5, 2006 1:38 AM ET

 

 

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A second Turkish child from the same family died from bird flu on Thursday at a hospital in eastern Turkey where she was being treated, a regional governor said.

 

Her brother, 14-year-old Mehmet Ali Kocyigit, had already died of the H5N1 strain of bird flu, officials said on Wednesday, confirming the first human death from the disease outside China and southeast Asia.

 

"We lost Fatma Kocyigit this morning," Niyazi Tanilir, governor in the eastern province of Van, said on the CNN Turk news channel. Newspapers said Fatma was 15-years-old. She died around 6:30 a.m. (0430 GMT).

 

He said one patient was in a critical condition whereas another patient was in a less serious condition.

 

A top World Health Organization (WHO) official said the boy had probably died from H5N1, which would mark a dramatic shift westwards for the deadly disease to the threshold of Europe.

 

Turkish Health Minister Recep Akdag gave no specific details on the boy's death but said samples had been sent to the WHO and Britain for more tests.

 

If the boy's death is officially confirmed as being the result of H5N1, it would be the first outside eastern Asia where more than 70 people have been killed by the disease since 2003.

 

The virus remains hard for people to catch, but there are fears it could mutate into a form easily transmitted among humans. Experts say a pandemic among humans could kill millions around the globe and cause massive economic losses

 

[Synn]

Thanks for posting this Selkie.. I also wanred to

you to our home..

[Mother]

[cartoongirl]

Hi Selkie, thanks for sharing this. I've been keeping a close eye on this subject.

[Necie]

Thanks all for the warm welcomes......

 

Keep track of this story it appears more are infected in Turkey.

The transmission appears to be B2H, not H2H but it still is distressing:

 

 

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/0..._Turkey_26.html

Twenty Six Suspected Bird Flu Patients Hospitalized in Turkey?

 

Recombinomics Commentary

January 5, 2006

 

Five additional patients, also with flu-like symptoms, have been hospitalized in Erzurum

 

The above comments suggest that the number of patients hospitalized in Turkey has grown to 26 and come from four provinces.

 

Media reports support the following breakdown.

 

15 patients were hospitalized in Van. These patients included the four Kocygit siblings (two have died and one is in critical condition) as well as 8 members of the Ozkan family and two additional people from Agri Province. There is also one patient from Van. The lack of reported poultry infections in Van, coupled with the large number of patients in Van raise the possibility of transmission to a health care worker in Van.

 

In addition to the 15 patients in Van, there are 6 patients from Igdir as well as the 5 patients described above from Erzurum.

 

Thus, the total is 26 patients from four provinces including four siblings from one family (Kocygit) and 8 members of another family (Okzan).

 

The dramatic increase in hospitalized patients in sparsely populated eastern Turkey is cause for concern. Most of the patients have breathing difficulties and are on ventilators. Two have died and at least one is in critical condition.

 

Outbreaks of dead birds have been reported in Igdir, Agri, Eruzum, and Kars Provinces suggesting H5N1 is easily passed from poultry to humans. This increased efficiency is cause for concern because the H5N1 that is efficiently transmitted is present in at least three provinces and will likely spread this strain further in the Middle East and Africa.

 

More information of the sequences of H5N1, including position 227 of HA, from poultry and people would be useful

[cartoongirl]

What will happen next....where will it hit next?