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Biosecurity News in Brief
Indonesia Promises to Share Virus Samples in Return for Vaccine; New H5N1 Human Cases in Turkey, EgyptBy Crystal Franco, February 16, 2007 On February 16, 2007 the Associated Press (AP) reported[1] that Indonesia will once again share H5N1 virus samples with the World Health Organization (WHO), in order to contribute to international disease surveillance and vaccine development efforts.[1] However, Indonesian officials say that they will share samples only under the condition that Indonesia and other developing countries are guaranteed to have “equal access to affordable vaccine” once it is produced.[1] Indonesia had announced earlier in February that it would “withhold samples” of the virus and would pursue its own commercial development of vaccine.[1] According to AP, “selected countries in the Asia and Pacific region” will meet in March to discuss how “equal access to affordable vaccine” can be achieved, and until then Indonesia will not share its virus samples.[1] In other H5N1 news, according to an Agence France Presse (AFP) report[2] on February 16, two people have been hospitalized in Turkey with avian flu-like symptoms.[2] The first person was hospitalized over a week ago and is from the southeast region of the country where H5N1 has recently emerged in domestic poultry.[2] The Second patient was hospitalized on Thursday, February 15, and is from a central province of Turkey with no known avian flu outbreaks. As a precaution, Turkish officials are imposing quarantine around villages with avian flu, conducting community health checks, and culling poultry in infected areas.[2] Turkey faced a major avian flu outbreak in January 2006 in which the H5N1 virus spread to poultry “in more than half of the country’s 81 provinces,” and resulted in the deaths of four teenage boys.[2] In related news, the AFP also reported[3] on February 16 that an Egyptian Woman has died from H5N1 infection, and a child hospitalized north of Cairo is also confirmed to have the virus.[3] Egypt has been the “worst hit” country outside of Asia, and these latest cases bring the number of known H5N1 human infections in Egypt to a total of 22 and the number of deaths to 13.[3]
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