Another avian influenza (bird flu) death as infection spreads
Authorities in Indonesia stated Friday, February 10, 2006, that another person has died from the avian influenza virus. While authorities in Azerbaijan are reporting that the lethal strain of avian influenza, H5N1, has been found in wild birds on the Caspian Sea, near the Absheron peninsula.
Indonesian authorities said a woman being treated for avian influenza at a Jakarta hospital that specializes in treatment of bird flu victims, had died and another patient was in critical condition.
David Nabarro, who heads the U.N. drive to contain the avian influenza virus, said there was no evidence the virus had mutated to the point that it could spread from person to person, but added “it’s not far away”.
“I don’t want to scare anyone but the truth is this virus is undergoing changes slowly,” Nabarro said. He also stated “This warning that nature is giving us has to be heeded.”
As of last June, the avian influenza virus was confined largely to birds in southern Asia, Nabarro said.
But in the seven months between June and last month, “something fairly devastating happened,” he said, noting the spread of the disease into Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean, the Middle East and now sub-Saharan Africa.