H5N1 Bird Flu kills a family and manifests human-to-human transmissability

In another case, the WHO earlier this week said a cluster of seven human bird-flu cases in Indonesia may have been caused by multiple person-to-person transmissions and was the largest cluster reported so far.

The apparent infection chain among an extended family in North Sumatra began with a woman who was believed to have passed on the H5N1 virus to relatives who were with her "in a small room" when she was sick and coughing, according to the WHO in Geneva.

The woman's 10-year-old nephew subsequently got bird flu and is considered a possible source of infection for her brother, who was "closely involved in caring for his son," the WHO said. The three people are among six family members who have died since May 4.

Limited human-to-human bird flu transmission among family members or those in close contact has been reported in other cases and the WHO said it "cannot be ruled out" in the most recent cluster case.

But the WHO still said there is no evidence of "efficient human-to-human transmission" in the most recent cases in Indonesia, a reference to the fact that the infections appear to have happened at close quarters.

The disease's spread has raised fears that the virus could eventually mutate to spread easily among humans, threatening a pandemic with millions of infections.

[link to www.bangkokpost.com]