Health chiefs fear worst over family killed by bird flu

World health chiefs said today that they were increasingly concerned about the bird flu deaths of six Indonesians from one family, raising fears of the first human-to-human transmission of the deadly H5N1 virus.

Last night, the Word Health Organisation said human transmission was a possible cause of the cluster, but said there was no evidence of a wider spreading of the virus.

"This is the most significant development so far in terms of public health," Peter Cordingley, spokesman for the West Pacific region of the WHO, told Reuters Television in Manila today.

"We have never had a cluster as large as this. We have not had in the past what we have here, which is no explanation as to how these people became infected."

"We can’t find sick animals in this community and that worries us," he admitted.

The possible mutation of the H5N1 virus to a form more easily transmitted between humans is the greatest fear of scientists and public health officials.

The initial infection is believed to have been caused by an eighth member of the family, a vegetable seller, who died on May 4 of a respiratory disease. Health officials believe she may have contracted the virus from live birds at the market where she worked.

The most recent death, of a 32-year-old man, came after he spent several days nursing his son. He died on Monday prompting the WHO to make its first statement on the case, which has attracted growing concern in recent days in Indonesia and across Asia, where financial markets trembled at last night's news.

Source: Times Online: Health chiefs fear worst over family killed by bird flu

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