Bangladeshis Test Positive for H5N1
"Preliminary tests for bird flu were positive on four Bangladeshi workers who had been culling infected chickens in Kuwait, a medical source said on Wednesday, but they have not been officially confirmed.
This would be the first cases of bird flu affecting humans in Arab nations of the Gulf. "
The first test on the four men was positive," the source told AFP, requesting anonymity. "We have taken blood samples for a second test to reconfirm the initial results. We expect the outcome within hours.
"If the outcome is reconfirmed as positive, we will have to send blood samples to the World Health Organisation (WHO) laboratory in Cairo for a final confirmation," the source said.
Health ministry spokesman Ahmad Al-Shatti told AFP an official statement would be made on Thursday, after tests results were reviewed, as to whether the four were indeed infected.
The ministry said specimens "have been sent to the World Health Organisation (WHO) reference laboratory in Egypt for confirmation.
"These measures are in line with recommendations by WHO for guidelines for the diagnosis and announcement of bird flu cases in humans," he said. The four workers were admitted to Kuwait's infectious diseases hospital with flu-like symptoms on Tuesday. The men have been isolated in a special ward and were still at the hospital on Wednesday."
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It could still be a false-positive. If they are infected however, this will be an interesting show of the disease's virulence. We have a nice round number of patients (4), who are being treated early in, what the picture shows at least, a modern medical institution -- surely a "best-case scenario" when it comes to an H5N1 infection. The outcome of their cases will clearly illustrate how combative this disease is towards modern medicine.
Don't get me wrong, though, I'm certainly rooting for the humans.
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