Friday, June 02, 2006
Report: Azerbaijanis likely caught H5N1 from swans
Experts who investigated two clusters of human cases of H5N1 avian influenza in Azerbaijan in March concluded that one cluster marked the first time humans probably contracted the disease from wild birds—in this case, dead swans.
“Close contact with and de-feathering of infected wild swans were the most plausible exposures to influenza A/H5N1 virus in the Daikyand cluster,” which included seven confirmed cases and four deaths, says the investigators’ report, published this week in the monthly issue of Eurosurveillance.
“The . . . cluster in Daikyand settlement is the first event where wild birds were the most likely source of influenza A/H5N1 infection in humans,” states the report by a team of 20 authors from several countries and the World Health Organization (WHO).
The WHO reported in March that wild swans were suspected as the source of infection in the cases. The Eurosurveillance article is the first detailed published presentation of the evidence for that view.