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The H5N1 bird flu virus mutated somewhat among Indonesians in
the largest known human cluster, but did not evolve into a more
transmissible form, the World Health Organization has said.
A spokeswoman for the UN agency, Maria Cheng, said the result came from
its investigation into a cluster of cases in North Sumatra, where the
virus killed seven members of a single family in May.
"There was a mutation found," she told Reuters in Geneva on Friday, in
response to a query. "But it did not mutate into a form that is more
transmissible because it didn't seem to go beyond the cluster."
Malik Peiris, a leading H5N1 expert from Hong Kong, told reporters on
the sidelines of a meeting of bird flu experts in Jakarta that it was
common for influenza viruses to mutate.
"Influenza viruses always mutate. That's of course the reason why
people are concerned that as we go on longer and longer the virus may
change to become more transmissible. But that has not happened so far."
The mutated virus was detected in samples taken from the last two
victims in the cluster -- a son who transmitted it to his father --
providing the clearest proof yet of human-to-human transmission, Cheng
said.
"In the past we haven't had such definitive laboratory evidence to
prove human-to-human transmission but in this case we do," she said.
But three weeks later, the man's wife has not shown any signs of the
disease, Cheng added. "We did not detect any transmission so it was a
dead-end chain of transmission."
Indonesian and WHO officials closely monitored more than 50 contacts of
the victims in the North Sumatra case, keeping them in voluntary home
quarantine following the outbreak, but none developed symptoms,
according to the Geneva-based agency.
Avian influenza almost exclusively infects birds but has killed 130
people since 2003, mostly in Asia.
Indonesia has seen a steady rise in bird flu human infections and
deaths. The virus has infected 51 people here, killing 39, and is
endemic in poultry in nearly all of the country's 33 provinces.
In Jakarta on Sunday, the government received a pledged grant of A$10
million (Rp 68.5 billion) from Australia to help combat bird flu.
The money will be used to finance a two-year emergency avian influenza
program that will focus on animal and human health through December
2007.
Under an agreement signed by Australian Health Minister Tony Abbott and
Indonesian chief welfare minister Aburizal Bakrie, the grant will
include $250,000 to support the work of Indonesia's newly created
National Avian Influenza Commission.
Australia already allocated $5.5 million in 2005 to help fight bird flu
in Indonesia.
Aburizal said the government would need US$900 million over the next
three years to tackle avian influenza. "The government has allotted $50
million from the state budget for each of the next three years," he
said.
The government plans to host a meeting of donors in Jakarta to raise
additional funds for the country's battle against bird flu.
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