A farmer who was confirmed on Tuesday to be infected with the
deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu is still in a critical condition in
hospital.
The 44-year-old woman, surnamed Li, is receiving medical
treatment in Jian'ou City Hospital, said Xu Longshan, chief of the
Fujian Provincial Professional Panel for
Prevention and Control of Human Infection of Bird Flu, on
Friday.
According to Xu, the patient was found with inflammation on her
left lung when she came to the hospital on Feb. 24, but her
pneumonia symptoms developed quickly and she went into a coma the
next day. A chest X-ray on Feb. 25 shows large shadows on her
lungs.
As of Thursday evening, Li's body temperature and pulse had
returned to normal, and her lungs and breathing appeared to be
functioning better but she was still breathing with the help of a
respirator, Xu said.
Doctors say Li is still in a critical condition and they are
trying to boost her immunity to prevent further organic
infection.
Over ten doctors and medical experts from local hospitals, and
Beijing-based Chaoyang Hospital and Ditan Hospital are trying to
work out a detailed treatment plan to save Li, said Xu Yongxi, head
of the hospital.
Policemen and hospital staff have been seen guarding the ward
where the patient is staying and doctors are wearing thick,
disinfected suits.
Li is the country's first human case of bird flu in seven weeks
since China reported on Jan. 10 that a 37-year-old farmer in east
China's Anhui Province had contracted bird flu last
December but had recovered.
Li is a native of Damiao Village, a marketplace in the
mountainous township of Xiaosong. The farmer, who kept five
chickens at her home, developed symptoms including fever on Feb.
18. She had visited village clinics and township hospitals before
being hospitalized on Feb. 24 in Jian'ou City hospital.
She was confirmed to be infected with the virus by the Chinese
Center for Disease Control and Prevention on Feb. 27.
Li is known to have eaten two chickens she had raised, but her
husband and son, who also ate the chicken, have not developed bird
flu.
Xu said Li had been sick with chronic tracheitis and had a
poorly-functioning lung before being struck down with bird flu.
"The onset of bird flu symptoms may have been related to her low
immunity," Xu said.
All live poultry in Damiao Village and areas within a
three-square-kilometer radius have been culled.
Yang Weizhong, Party secretary of the Xiaosong township, said
they had set up watercourses in the village to store disinfectants
and the village was immediately disinfected after Li was diagnosed
with bird flu.
Local markets for live fowls and processed fowl products in
Damiao and its adjacent regions have been closed until further
notice.
Local health authorities said they were tightly monitoring 11
people, including Li's families and friends, who had had close
contacts with her, as well as another 100, who had general contacts
with the woman.
So far, they have shown no symptoms of the disease, authorities
said.
The provincial health department has sent several medical
workers to help local bird flu prevention work, and it has ordered
prompt reporting of fever patients in Jian'ou city.
Local health authorities have examined 87 patients with fever
but have found no bird flu symptoms among the people.
New information from the Ministry of Agriculture has found no
bird flu virus in the avian samples collected from Damiao Village
and the adjacent areas so far.
The specialists concluded that there was a slight possibility of
infection being spread by wild fowls.
All of the samples have been sent to the China National Bird Flu
Reference Lab, based in Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, for further tests.
Specialists and officials from the Ministry of Agriculture are
taking a slate of measures to curb infection in the area including
expanding disinfecting and monitoring areas.
The virus has killed 14 people in China since 2003.
(Xinhua News Agency March 3, 2007)