Epidemiology of human H5N1 cases reported to WHO

30 June 2006

This week’s issue of the Weekly Epidemiological Record, published online by WHO, sets out results from the first analysis of epidemiological data on all 205 laboratory-confirmed H5N1 cases officially reported to WHO by onset date from December 2003 to 30 April 2006.

Data used in the analysis were collected for surveillance purposes. Quality, reliability and format were not consistent across data from different countries. Despite this limitation, several conclusions could be reached.

A more standardized collection of epidemiological data by countries and timely sharing of these data are needed to improve monitoring of the situation, risk assessment, and the management of H5N1 patients.

For more information

Epidemiology of WHO-confirmed human cases of avian A(H5N1) infection
30 June 2006, Weekly Epidemiological Record (WER) vol. 81, 26 (pp 249-260)