Current status of avian/pandemic influenza : part 4

Abstract

The latest epidemiological update by WHO is the following: 1. The number of new countries reporting human cases increased from 4 to 9 after October 2005. 2. Half of the cases occurred in people under the age of 20 years; 90 per cent of cases occurred in people under the age of 40 years. 3. The overall case fatality rate was 56 per cent. 4. Assessment of mortality rates and the time intervals between symptom onset and hospitalization and between symptom onset and death suggest that the illness pattern has not changed substantially during the 3 years; 5. Cases have occurred all year round. However, the incidence of human cases peaked during the winter and spring in the northern hemisphere. Although media has not been reporting much on the subject, two more human deaths have occurred in July in Egypt and Indonesia. The cumulative number of cases is 229 with 131 deaths as of 4 July. This week Spain has discovered H5N1 in a wild bird and Hungary has discovered the virus in poultry. H5N2 has been discovered in ostriches in South Africa.