Outbreak News

1 October 2006 Volume 32 Number 19

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Avian Influenza, Indonesia - Update

On 8 September 2006, the Ministry of Health in Indonesia confirmed a new case of human infection with the H5N1 avian influenza virus. The case, a 14-year-old female from Makassar (South Sulawesi Province), developed symptoms on 18 June, was hospitalized on 23 June and died on 24 June. The case had contact with poultry near her home. This case was detected through the Ministry's routine influenza surveillance system.

In addition to the above case and following the recent revision of case definitions for H5N1 infection, WHO is adding two cases in Indonesia, dating back to June and November of 2005. Inclusion of these two cases new aligns figures given for Indonesia in the WHO cumulative table of laboratory-confirmed cases with those officially issued by the Ministry of Health. Prior to the revision, the cases did not meet the WHO case definition for serologically confirmed avian influenza H5N1 infection.

The first retrospectively confirmed case was an 8-year-old female from Tangerang in Banten Province who developed symptoms on 24 June 2005 and died on 14 July 2005. She was part of a family cluster reported to WHO in July 2005.

The second retrospectively confirmed case, a 45-year-old male from Mageland (Central Java Province), developed symptoms on 25 November 2005, following direct contact with diseased poultry, and subsequently recovered.

The retrospectively confirmed cases bring the total in Indonesia to 63 cases, of which 48 have been fatal.

Poliomyelitis, Ethiopia and Somalia

Despite being polio-free for almost 3 years, Somalia saw a re-emergence of the disease last year. On 8 September 2006, there was a total of 215 confirmed cases, and 14 out of Somalia's 19 regions have been infected. Since the disease re-emerged in Ethiopia in December 2004, a total of 37 polio cases with four out of 11 regions affected. The high-risk areas remain the cross-border region of Somalia, Ethiopia and north/central areas of Somalia. Kenya has been polio-free for the last 22 years.

Countries in the Horn of Africa are increasing their level of planning and coordination, and streamlining their polio eradication strategies to cut the corridor of transmission of the poliovirus. Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia simultaneously vaccinated millions of children aged < 5 years from 9-12 September in the largest ever synchronized vaccination campains in the Horn of Africa.

Source: WHO Weekly Epidemiological Record, Vol 81, No. 37, 2006.

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