We've had the SARS outbreak and suspected avian influenza.
Finally, a study by Hanshaoworakul and colleagues reported that human influenza was identified in 2,075 (18%) of 11,641 suspected avian influenza A(H5N1) infections with 22 (1%) fatal cases, including seven deaths in children less than ten years of age.
If patients had risk factors or the physician suspected avian influenza infection, nasopharyngeal swabs, throat swabs or secretions from endotracheal suctions were collected from patients and tested by RT-PCR for influenza A subtypes H1, H3, H5 and influenza Type B at the Thailand National Institute of Health (NIH) laboratory in Bangkok or at several regional NIH network laboratories [12].
When we suspected avian influenza in this patient, clinical specimens were tested.
The resequencing-microarray-based diagnostic system was subsequently applied for investigation of a suspected avian influenza outbreak at the commercial poultry farm.
Only 24 patients (21 adults and 3 children) came to local hospitals due to self-defined or general practitioner-defined suspected avian flu during March 2006.
The use of N95 respirators is included in the 2004 recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for healthcare workers who treat patients with known or suspected avian influenza (38 ).
The laboratory demonstrated its operational proficiency by conducting an investigation of a suspected avian influenza outbreak at a commercial poultry farm at Bo using broad range resequencing microarrays and real time RT-PCR.
10 Family clusters with confirmed or suspected avian H7N9 virus infection were previously reported 11; however, some information related to the cluster in Jiangsu Province was incomplete and even incorrect.
Close human to bird contact was defined as being within one metre, in a closed environment, with live or dead affected chickens from an affected farm, OR having visited a holding, which had birds with confirmed or suspected avian influenza, on any of the 8 days prior to onset of clinical symptoms.
