# 2791
Yesterday Commonground over at Pandemic Information News posted a long machine translation of an article that appeared on Bogor-net website that detailed the discovery of the H5N1 virus in water samples taken from a `disposal pond' in Cilendek, near Bogor.
According to the translation, this caused some alarm among the residents, who feared the virus had somehow leached from the burial site of a recently decease suspected bird flu victim nearby.
Indo: Bogor: Water in Cilendek most Dirty the Bird Flu Virus
[This is the Ruslan family out of Bogor]
Jumat, 13 Februari 2009NOT ONLY the poultry in the District of Cilendek Timur Bogor Barat that was positive bird flu. The source of water in the disposal pond of RT 02/03 also positive contained the virus H5NI. this Matter was based on results of the test of the laboratory of the Research Body of Veteriner Bogor.
The resident could panic when knowing this condition. Moreover beforehand the Ruslan body, the sufferer suspect bird flu on December 29 2008, was buried in the location. So, several residents asked the explanation of the Health and the Service of Pertanian Kota Bogor of the Service to give the security guarantee and the health.
Bogor, as you may remember, is the small town about 40 km south of Jakarta where a brother and sister died last month, both highly suspected of having the H5N1 bird flu infection. A third sibling, another brother, remains ill with similar symptoms.
You can read details here and here.
Last night, the Bird Flu Information Corner, a joint project between Kobe University, Japan and and the Institute of Tropical Disease, Airlangga University, Indonesia posted a translation of another article on this story, that appeared in the Bogor-radar.
Cilendek water contains bird flu virus.
Cilendek – Water drainage reservoir at RT 02/03 tested positive bird flu virus. This test was done by Bogor Veterinary Research Institution.
This has caused panic among people since Ruslan, the bird flu victim was buried in that area. Government officials explained that water contamination wasn’t caused by the victim’s body since the burial has been done according to WHO protocol for bird flu suspected victim.
Body should be covered by special biosecurity plastic and aluminum foil, then covered by zinc layer before put into wooden coffin. Contaminated water at the drainage may due to lot of chickens free ranged at that area.
As stated, it is highly unlikely that the virus leached from the burial site to the drainage pond.
The most obvious explanation is that infected birds, who excrete the virus in their feces (avian flu is primarily a gastrointestinal disease in birds), contaminated this pond.
The detection of the H5N1 virus in water doesn't really come as any kind of surprise. Contaminated water is believed to be the primary method by which the virus is spread among migratory waterfowl.
In this instance, this pond could serve as a temporary reservoir of the virus, allowing more birds (including neighborhood poultry) to acquire the virus.
In fact, in February of 2006, the WHO published a Fact Sheet on Avian Influenza that had this to say about the danger. (Reparagraphed for easier reading)
All evidence to date indicates that close contact with dead or sick birds is the principal source of human infection with the H5N1 virus. Especially risky behaviours identified include the slaughtering, defeathering, butchering and preparation for consumption of infected birds.
Swimming in water bodies where the carcasses of dead infected birds have been discarded or which may have been contaminated by faeces from infected ducks or other birds might be another source of exposure.
There have even been suggestions that one way to monitor the spread of the H5N1 virus in migratory birds might be to test lakes and ponds for the virus, not individual birds.
A not-so-gentle reminder that while direct contact with an infected bird is believed to be the mostly likely way to acquire the virus - in countries where the virus is endemic - it may persist for days or weeks in the environment.
Even in pond water.
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