Algerian may have had bird flu
2006-01-25 14:31
Algiers - Authorities were trying to determine whether a man who raised poultry and died after contracting flu-like symptoms may have had bird flu, a newspaper reported on Wednesday.
Initial tests came out negative, the daily El Watan quoted hospital officials as saying. A preliminary check by veterinarians on the deceased man's poultry also turned up negative, the paper said.
Hospital and Health Ministry officials could not immediately be reached for comment on Wednesday.
The man died in the Oran hospital, in western Algeria, and three family members have fallen ill, El Watan reported. The family members, aged 13, 33 and 46, were all suffering from pneumonia, the report said. They were being kept in isolation and under anti-viral treatment, the paper quoted a hospital official as saying.
The family lives in Sidi El-Bachir, 6km east of Oran, a major city on the Mediterranean coast.
The bird flu virus has killed at least 82 people worldwide since 2003, the large majority in Asia. It recently spread to Turkey where 21 confirmed human cases have been detected. Four children there have died over the past month.
Experts fear the bird flu virus could mutate into a form that spreads easily among humans, possibly sparking a pandemic killing millions of people.
There have been numerous false alarms since the virus began spreading.
- AP