- PERU -- 2 people died on
board a vessel with suspected flu virus. Ship stranded on the high seas
near the port of Callao, Peru.
-
- Peruvian health authorities declared an epidemic alert
and quarantined at sea the crew of a fishing vessel in which 2 Chinese
people died, apparently due to a type of influenza virus, the newspaper
"La Republica" reported this Saturday [19 Apr 2008].
-
- The alert forced the Peruvian Navy to isolate the 22
crew members of the ship on the high seas and 30 Peruvians, among sailors
and health staff, who entered the ship when the death of the cook and a
fisherman was reported, 9 Apr 2008.
-
- According to "La Republica", "a strange
mutant virus was the cause of the agonizing death of 2 Chinese crew of
the fishing vessel 'Chan An 168', who died on 9 Apr 2008, off the coast
of the port of Callao."
-
- The vessel was isolated 12 km off the main Peruvian port
and is guarded by the Navy, while Peruvian sailors and medical personnel
are being observed to see if they have been infected.
-
- http://g1.globo.com:80/Noticias/Mundo/0,,MUL418593-5602,00-SUSPEITA+
- DE+VIRUS+MORTAL+FAZ+PERU+ISOLAR+NAVIO+CHINES.html
-
-
- --
- Communicated by ProMED-mail
-
- promed@promedmail.org
-
- There is no mention of any lab tests confirming the diagnosis
of any type of influenza virus etiology, let alone "a strange mutant
virus". I suspect the fact that these were apparently sudden deaths
of Chinese led to a perhaps understandable over-reaction by Peruvian health
authorities, fearing bird flu. It must have taken the fishing vessel a
number of days to reach the Peruvian coast from China, and the incubation
period of human influenza is 2-5 days. Assuming the same holds for bird
flu, the fatal illness was probably not contracted in China. Perhaps the
cook prepared a meal from stored chicken that had been infected with bird
flu before freezing, although I'd always thought that fishermen lived on
fish. A violent attack of food poisoning could have been the cause. We
would like to hear about the lab results. - Mod.JW
-
- Patricia A. Doyle DVM, PhD
- Bus Admin, Tropical Agricultural Economics
- Univ of West Indies
-
- Please visit my "Emerging Diseases" message
board at:
- http://www.emergingdisease.org/phpbb/index.php
- Also my new website:
- http://drpdoyle.tripod.com/
- Zhan le Devlesa tai sastimasa
- Go with God and in Good Health
|
