Bird flu fears spread after death of girl's mother
Fears of human-to-human transmission of the bird flu virus have grown after state media reported yesterday that the mother of a two-year-old bird flu patient had died in a hospital in Hunan province about two weeks ago after suffering fever and severe pneumonia.
The cause of her death remains unclear. Virus samples were not available as the body of the woman had already been cremated, China Business News quoted an official from the emergency office of the provincial health bureau as saying.
The woman, who lived on the outskirts of the provincial capital, Changsha , had had contact with poultry between December 21 and 26. She developed a fever on December 28 and died on January 6 or 7 after developing a severe case of pneumonia, the report said.
The death of the girl's mother is a worrying sign. Scientists have long feared that the H5N1 bird flu virus will one day become transmissible among humans and trigger a pandemic.
The girl, known only by her surname, Peng, remained in critical condition yesterday, according to state media. It was unclear if the two cases were related.
The girl fell ill on January 7, and four days later travelled to Shanxi province with her grandparents and received treatment in a hospital in Fenyang . She was sent to Taiyuan Paediatric Hospital, in Shanxi's capital, on January 14. Three days later she was transferred to the city's No4 Hospital, which specialises in severe acute respiratory syndrome and bird flu treatment.
A hospital source in Taiyuan said hospitals were aware of the death of the girl's mother from the outset, and had imposed strict protective measures similar to those for Sars.
National Influenza Centre director Shu Yuelong said yesterday the central government had sent experts to Hunan to investigate the case and he was waiting for more information about the mother's death.
The mainland has reported three human H5N1 deaths in different provinces in recent weeks.
On January 5, Huang Yanqing , a 19-year-old migrant worker, died of H5N1 in Beijing and on Saturday, a 27-year-old woman died of H5N1 in Shandong province .
On Monday, a 16-year-old boy from Guizhou province died of H5N1 in a hospital in Huaihua , Hunan, Xinhua reported.
The government has been trying to assure the public that a big outbreak is not likely and that cases remain sporadic.
But Health Minister Chen Zhu said yesterday the mainland faced a 'grim' fight to prevent and control human infections.
'We will inform the public about the epidemic situation and the prevention work without delay,' he said.
A spokeswoman for the World Health Organisation's Beijing office, Nyka Alexander, said yesterday that the WHO had no plan to send experts to investigate the cases or demand virus samples. 'We believe China has the experience and capacity to handle this by themselves,' she said.
However, many questions remain unanswered, especially how the victims contracted the disease.
State media reported that Huang had bought and washed nine ducks from Hebei province . But her father, Huang Jinxiang said yesterday that she had bought only one duck from a friend.
Additional reporting by Vivian Wu
