Jan 24, 2008 (CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) today confirmed that two more people have died of H5N1 avian influenza, a 34-year-old man from Vietnam and a 30-year-old man from Indonesia. Both cases were reported previously.
The Vietnamese man, from Tuyen Quang province, about 50 miles northwest of Hanoi, got sick on Jan 10, was hospitalized 6 days later, and died on Jan 18, according to a WHO statement. He is now confirmed as the country's 102nd H5N1 case-patient and 48th death. He was previously reported to be 32 years old.
Investigators determined the man had had contact with sick and dead poultry before he became ill, the WHO said. He had slaughtered and cooked chickens and geese on his backyard farm, the Associated Press reported yesterday. The WHO said animal health officials tested poultry from his village and found they were infected with the H5N1 virus.
The WHO also announced that a 30-year-old Indonesian man who was confirmed yesterday as the country's 120th-case patient died today. His age was previously reported as 32. His death raises the WHO's fatality total for Indonesia to 98.
The man was from Tangerang, a suburb of Jakarta. He fell ill on Jan 13 and was hospitalized 6 days later, according to yesterday's WHO statement. Investigators are trying to determine the source of his infection. The man was a sales executive at an automobile company, Indonesia's National Committee for Avian Influenza Control and Pandemic Influenza Preparedness reported on Jan 22.
The two deaths push the WHO's global H5N1 fatality total to 221, and the Vietnamese man's illness raises the global case count to 353.
See also:
Jan 24 WHO statement on Vietnamese death
Jan 24 WHO statement on Indonesian death
