Indonesia reports 108th H5N1 case

The numbers keep rising! Its becoming a bigger and bigger threat...demands close watch.
-Kelsey

Story:
A 44-year-old Indonesian woman who died Oct 6 had H5N1 avian influenza, marking the country's 108th human H5N1 case and 87th death, Indonesia and the World Health Organization (WHO) announced today.

The woman, from Sumatra's Riau province, fell ill Sep 27 and was hospitalized Oct 2, said I Nyoman Kandun of the Indonesian Health Ministry, as quoted today by Antara, the national news agency.

Kandun said it was unclear how the woman contracted the disease, but she often visited marketplaces and might have had contact with poultry there.

He said the ministry was sending a team to Riau to conduct an epidemiologic investigation. The patient's contacts remain healthy but are being monitored, according to a WHO statement.

With the woman's illness, the WHO's global H5N1 count has reached 330 cases with 202 deaths, for a case-fatality rate of 61%.

Also in Indonesia, eight people ill with suspected H5N1 infections were hospitalized yesterday in Medan, North Sumatra province, according to another Antara report.

A hospital spokesman said six of the patients were improving, but two, a pregnant woman and a 3-year-old, were in serious condition, according to the report. The results of laboratory tests were being awaited.

See also:
Oct 8 WHO statement
http://www.who.int/csr/don/2007_10_08/en/index.html