FACTBOX-Bird flu's spread around the globe*

02 Oct 2007 17:13:18 GMT
Source: Reuters

Oct 2 (Reuters) - The World Health Organisation confirmed on its Web
site on Tuesday the death of a 21-year-old Indonesian man from Jakarta
from bird flu.

The outbreak of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza began in Asia in
2003. Following are some facts about the H5N1 avian flu virus and its
spread around the globe.

* Since the virus re-emerged in Asia in 2003, outbreaks have been
confirmed in around 60 countries and territories, according to data from
the World Organisation for Animal Health.

* More than 30 countries have reported outbreaks in the past year, in
most cases involving wild birds such as swans.

* The virus has killed at least 201 people since 2003, according to the
WHO. Countries with confirmed human deaths are: Azerbaijan, Cambodia,
China, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Laos, Nigeria, Thailand, Turkey and Vietnam.

* In total, the virus is known to have infected 329 people since 2003,
according to the WHO. Many of the dead are children and young adults.

* The WHO says that Vietnam and Indonesia have the highest number of
cases, accounting for 132 of the total deaths.

* The H5N1 virus is not new to science and was responsible for an
outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza in Scotland in 1959.
Britain confirmed new cases in birds in Scotland in April 2006 and in
eastern England in February 2007.

* H5N1 is not the only bird flu virus. There are numerous strains. For
example, an outbreak in 2003 of the H7N7 bird flu virus in the
Netherlands led to the destruction of more than 30 million birds, around
a third of the country's poultry stock. About 2.7 million were destroyed
in Belgium and around 400,000 in Germany. In the Netherlands, 89 people
were infected with the H7N7 virus, of whom one (a veterinarian) died.

* The H5N1 virus made the first known jump into humans in Hong Kong in
1997, infecting 18 people and killing six of them. The government
ordered the immediate culling of the territory's entire poultry flock,
ending the outbreak.

* Symptoms of bird flu in humans have ranged from typical influenza-like
symptoms, such as fever, cough, sore throat and muscle aches, to eye
inflammations (conjunctivitis), pneumonia, acute respiratory distress,
viral pneumonia, and other severe and life-threatening complications.
(Sources: OIE, WHO, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)