Washington DC: You may want to remain alert for bird flu as a new study has provided an evidence of probable transmission of the avian influenza virus between two unrelated individuals, according to ANI.
Previous reports of person to person transmissions have all occurred in family clusters, suggesting that either common exposures or genetic susceptibility might contribute to the infection. However, the new study describes two patients who shared the same ward in a district hospital in Zhejiang Province. The first (index) case was a 49 year old man, who was diagnosed with H7N9 virus on 24 February and was admitted to a specialist hospital ward with intensive care facilities. He died of multi-organ failure on 20 April.
The second case, a 57 year old man with a history of chronic lung disease (COPD), developed flu-like symptoms after staying on the same ward of the district hospital as the index case for five days (18 to 23 February). He was diagnosed with H7N9 virus on 25 February and died of respiratory failure on 2 March.
