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, yesterday.
According to Xu, the patient was found with inflammation on he 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, authoritie 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.