Forum: Indonesia Outbreaks XXIII

Continued from here

Bumping ahead of the old thread in the list ;-)

Health Ministry Confirms 57th Bird Flu Fatality

JAKARTA, November 28, 2006, Ministry of Health — “The Health Ministry announced Tuesday that a 35-year-old woman, known only as ESR, a resident of Taman Adiyaksa, Tangerang, Banten Province, died of bird flu early Tuesday morning at the Sulianti Saroso Infectious Disease Hospital in Jakarta.

Her death is the 57th human fatality out of 74 confirmed human H5N1 cases in Indonesia.

The announcement was made public by the Health Ministry’s Center of Public Communication after receiving the latest updated data on Indonesia’s bird flu situation from the ministry’s Bird Flu Information Center Tuesday, November 28, 2006.

ESR fell sick on November 7, 2006. The next day she was admitted to Paramita Hospital, Tangerang. Having shown no sign of recovery, the woman was transferred to Honoris Hospital on November 10 and the same day she was again transferred to Sulianti Saroso Infectious Disease Hospital. Before she died, ESR experienced severe coughing, fever and respiratory problems. A history of contact with poultry has not been established.

Based on Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) tests, carried out by the Health Ministry’s Research and Development Agency and the Jakarta-based NAMRU-2 laboratory, ESR was confirmed as having bird flu on November 13, 2006. She is the 57 th Indonesian bird flu patient who has died since the first human H5N1 fatality was recorded in Indonesia in July 2005.

The Health Ministry’s Bird Flu Information Center reported that as of November 27, 2006, Indonesia has recorded 74 confirmed human cases, of which 57 have died; 12 probable cases, of which 4 died; 187 suspect cases, of which 50 died; 1 exposure case; in addition, 539 cases have tested negative for bird flu.

In Indonesia, confirmed human cases have occurred in nine provinces, they are: Jakarta (with 18 cases, of which 16 were fatal); Banten (9 cases, of which 8 died); West Java (25 cases, of which 20 died); Central Java (4 cases, of which 3 died), East Java (5 cases, of which 3 died), North Sumatra (7 cases, of which 6 died), South Sulawesi (1 fatality), Lampung (3 cases, all of which survived) and West Sumatra (2 cases, both survived).

The Health Ministry’s Center of Public Communication, Secretariat General of the Health Ministry, published this media release. For further information, call 021–5223002 and 52960661 or send email to puskom depkes@gmail.com and puskom.publik@yahoo.co.id

Director of the Center for Public Communication Dr. Lily S. Sulistyowati, MM NIP 140218301

http://www.komnasfbpi.org/home.html

New AI website in Indonesia

// 30 Nov 2006

“Indonesia’s National Committee for Avian Influenza Control and Pandemic Preparedness (Komnas FBPI) has launched a new bird flu information website, according to Bayu Krisnamurthi, the chief executive officer of the organisation.

The website is at www.komnasfbpi.org .

The site is an information resource for the public, offering the latest news on human avian influenza cases, links to organisations involved in the fight against bird flu , press releases, stories and downloadable material from the recent public awareness campaign, including TV public service announcements and fliers.”

Malaysia braces for flu pandemic

“A BIRD sneezes and the whole world jumps. The avian influenza or bird flu is putting countries on edge as they struggle to stop the deadly H5N1 virus from triggering a human pandemic that could kill millions.

Global health experts, including the World Health Organisation (WHO), say no one knows when it will happen but it is just a matter of time before it does.

“No society will be exempt and no economy will be unscathed.

WHO says a pandemic, when it happens, will most likely begin in Asia where as of Nov 8, 64 people have died.

Why Asia? In many parts of Asia, humans and farm animals live in close proximity. Animals are reared and slaughtered in unhygienic ways. Rapid clearing of forests, bird and other wildlife habitats forces wild animals and whatever virus they carry, to come into closer contact with humans.

Countries are doing their best to arm themselves against the virus but many Third World countries lack the resources to protect their vulnerable population. Malaysia, too, is bracing itself.

Malaysia has ordered 600,000 Tamiflu tablets but it needs another RM189 million to buy enough to treat 10% of the population. Previous pandemics indicate that about 30% of a country’s population could become infected.

How do we know that it is the H5N1 virus which will be the cause of the pandemic?

Any of the avian influenza strains (H5, H7, H9) which have shown evidence of being capable of infecting humans can pose as a candidate for pandemic flu although the evidence to date points to H5 being the most likely candidate. The high mortality rate due to H5 (over 50% of infected cases die) makes this a much feared candidate compared to other avian strains.

http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/flash/

Indonesia Summary - Updated as of 12/04/06

Michelle in OK? — 04 December 2006, 23:06

Thanks for updating this site, nice to see it here.

Sailor… you are very welcome. Also, the ? after my name isn’t intentional. Does anyone know why it is showing up?

The latest Indonesia diary at the new forum is here.

Indonesia Summary - Updated as of 12/08/06

Also, the ? after my name isn’t intentional. Does anyone know why it is showing up? Has to do with your profile. Click on your name and I think it takes you to your profile area to update it.

Thanks, I was wondering what those question marks were doing there.

Indonesia Summary - Updated as of 12/12/06

The two new suspected cases are from Aceh.

Indonesia Summary - Updated as of 12/13/06

The new suspected cases are as follows:

• Riau island (9 yrs)
• Medan, N. Sumatra (mother and 10 yr child)
• ? location, (9 yr old died)

A new Indo diary is open on the new Forum here

Indonesia Summary - Updated as of 12/17/06

Most of the new suspected cases are from Aceh. See Bronco Bill’s link above to the discussions.

The Truth is Out There? — 30 November 2006, 04:02

This 57th death may have been a nurse as reported by Banshee on the new forum:

http://tinyurl.com/y6n4mc

Health officials probe 22 mystery deaths in Jakarta

JAKARTA (AP): Indonesian health officials are investigating the deaths of 22 people from an unidentified illness characterized by high fever over a two-month period in the capital Jakarta.

Samples from the patients - all of whom died days after being admitted to St. Carolus hospital - have been sent to the U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit 2 in Jakarta, but the cause of deathremained a mystery, said Nyoman Kandun, a senior health ministryofficial.

“We have not been able to conclude if this is or is not a newemerging disease,” Nyoman told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “But after experiencing both bird flu and SARS (severeacute respiratory syndrome) we do not want to take any chances.”

Samples were also sent to the U.S.-based Centers for Disease Control, another health official said on condition he not be named because he is not authorized to speak to the media. Tests there were also inconclusive.

Nyoman said the patients may have been poisoned, but for the time being the cause of death was listed as from a “high fever of unknown origin.”

Most of the victims were over 40 and from middle-class residential areas near St. Carolus in central Jakarta. The hospital started reporting the deaths in October and the last death was reported on Nov. 27, he said.

Surveillance teams have visited the homes of the patients but found no additional cases and investigators also concluded that they did not get their infections from fellow patients at thehospital, Kandun said.

There are two other hospitals in the neighborhood, but they have not reported similar mysterious deaths, he said. (**)

http://tinyurl.com/yh23dx

Indonesia Summary - Updated as of 12/31/06

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