# 1605
Whenever there is an outbreak of bird flu in poultry, most countries canvas the surrounding area for potential human cases. Sometimes, residents, worried about infection, will turn up at local hospitals.
So far, most of the time, these people turn out to have something other than bird flu. And that is understandable.
There are plenty of viral illnesses out there that can mimic bird flu. Simple seasonal influenza, at least in the early stages, is indistinguishable from avian flu without a sophisticated blood test. Typhoid, Dengue, Chikungunya, and a host of other viral fevers can often produce similar symptoms.
It can take days of observation, and a series of negative lab tests, to rule out H5N1 infection.
Of course, occasionally, these patients do turn out to have bird flu. And the downside of that infection is so great, it is well worth taking extraordinary measures to detect it and prevent its spread.
Today, Pakistan has woman in isolation that might have bird flu.
Or she might not.
We won't know until the lab tests come back. Until then, at worst, she is only a `suspected case'.
This from Xinhua News.
Reports about admission of bird flu patient in Pakistan clarified
www.chinaview.cn
2008-02-03 21:02:38
ISLAMABAD, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- A hospital in northwestern Pakistan clarified on Sunday that it was still too early to confirm that a patient in hospital had been infected with bird flu virus, the official Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) reported.
The APP quoted a spokesman of Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) in Khyber Agency of the tribal areas as saying that a lady had been brought to the hospital with severe viral infections.
He said that the lady was presently kept in Isolation Ward of the hospital, but it was not confirmed that she was infected with the bird flu virus. He informed that the condition of the lady was similar to that of a bird flu patient, but still she could not be declared as patient of the deadly virus unless her blood test reports arrived from National Institute of Health (NIH).
The spokesman clarified that the condition of the said lady was improving and her fever was reducing, which was a good sign. In case of bird flu viral attack, he continued, fever kept on ascending up to dangerous level.
He said that the reason behind keeping the patient in Isolation or Seclusion Ward was that patients with severe viral infections were kept there. The ward was not reserved only for bird flu patients, he added.
He said the blood samples of the lady had been sent to NIH and report would come within 72 hours after which her disease would be diagnosed.
He requested the media persons not to report the lady as bird flu patient unless result of her blood samples arrived.
Local authorities of the southern port city of Karachi on Friday confirmed the outbreak of bird flu in one of its poultry farms.
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