Update on avian flu

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

A new study shows that transmission of avian flu to humans could be easier than previously believed.
With the recent news that three children in Turkey have died from avian flu, concern over this emerging disease has never been higher. Scientists at the Karolinksa Institute, Sweden, now report a study from northwest Vietnam which suggests that it may be easier to catch avian flu than previously believed - worrying, but important to know.

They questioned 45,478 randomly selected individuals about their exposure to poultry and experience of flu-like illness. There has been an outbreak of the potentially deadly H5NI avian iflu in Vietnam ongoing since 2003. This new survey showed that 17.9 per cent of the group had had flu-like illness between April 1 to June 30 2004, 84.4 per cent lived in households keeping poultry, and 25.9 per cent reported sick or dead poultry. The researchers concluded that having poultry in the household was not, in itself, a risk factor for flu-like illness - but direct contact with dead or sick poultry was. They believe that 650 to 750 cases of illness - out of 8,149 reported - arose from such contact. This is a higher risk of contracting avian flu from poultry than previously believed.

Source
Archives of Internal Medicine 9th January 2005 Volume 166 pages 119-123