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China-Japan-Koreas
Looking For Avian Flu Patient Zero
2007-12-07
The father of a Chinese man who died from the H5N1 strain of bird flu last week has also been diagnosed with the disease, authorities said on Friday. The National Disease Authority has confirmed that a 52-year-old man surnamed Lu from the Nanjing, capital of the eastern province Jiangsu, was feverish with the H5N1 strain on Thursday, the Ministry of Health reported on its Web site (www.moh.gov.cn).

This latest case raises troublesome questions about how the man was infected. Humans can contract H5N1 from close contact with infected birds, but scientists fear the disease could mutate into a version that spreads from person-to-person, risking wider outbreaks or even a global pandemic.

Lu's son died on Sunday from the same disease, making the question of how these two infections occurred especially important.

The Xinhua news agency had earlier reported that the son had had no contact with dead poultry and there had been no reported poultry outbreak in the province. The latest report did not say whether contact with infected poultry had been confirmed in either of the infections.

With the world's biggest poultry population and millions of backyard birds roaming free, China is at the centre of the fight against bird flu.

This latest case brings the number of confirmed human infections of bird flu in China to 27. The Ministry of Health said the World Health Organisation had been notified of this latest case.
Posted by:Anonymoose

#3  There is some good news, however. Just a day or two ago they announced the discovery of the optimum air transfer of influenza: cold and dry.

Optimally, 41F and below 20% humidity. At higher temperatures and humidities, influenza is increasingly limited to contact contamination. At room temperature and 80% humidity, there is almost zero air transfer.

This also means that disease spread can be limited with higher temperatures and humidities in closed environments. Influenza wards should be kept warm and humid instead of cool and dry.
Posted by: Anonymoose   2007-12-07 21:40  

#2  The incubation period for avian flu still isn't known. Somewhere between 2 and 17 days. However, if there is another outbreak in that province within that time, not traced to a bird, there is a good chance that Mr. Lu, Sr., may indeed be patient zero.

From that point, a pandemic is just a matter of about a dozen more incubation periods. Each outbreak will reflect two incubation cycles before it, which means that its geographical range may have doubled twice in that time.
Posted by: Anonymoose   2007-12-07 21:33  

#1  There once was a Chinese named Lu,
And he upped and died from the Flu.
They called him case zero,
and some kind of hero.
I wouldn't be him, no. Would you?
Posted by: Grunter   2007-12-07 21:16  

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