Sri Lanka:Mystery illness identified as Influenza B
submited by kickingbird at Dec, 21, 2004 8:19 AM from Daily News
The Healthcare and Nutrition Ministry yesterday categorically stated that the mystery illness in the southern parts of the Sri Lanka was a type of influenza which had no links with Bird Flu or SARS.
"There is no need to panic. This has been identified as an influenza B type disease. It is not related to Bird Flu or SARS. We have taken all precautionary measures," Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva told a press briefing yesterday.
He said two high level teams comprising medical specialists have conducted research and testing to identify the mystery illness spreading in Matara, Padanangala and Embilipitiya.
Two teams, one from the Medical Research Institute (MRI) and another from the Public Health Department had conducted extensive investigations. So far, eight deaths have been reported by the disease. Fifteen suspected cases have been recorded.
"There is no need to fear. A similar outbreak occurred in Colombo and its environs in 1998," senior Epidemiologist Dr. N. Abeysinghe said adding that they have implemented several universally adopted precautionary measures to control respiratory diseases.
He said medical investigations conducted by the MRI had confirmed that this was due to Influenza B. "At the same time, it is very difficult to tell the exact number of infected cases due to the common symptoms. However, we are now implementing our precautionary measures having identified this as influenza B."
Dr. Geethani Wickremesinghe, a virologist at the MRI said this is not a mystery disease. "This has been found since 1919 and it is fairly common."
She explained that the complications are mostly found in very young and old people and death could occur mostly among these groups. She said steps have been taken to send samples to Hong Kong and Australia for further testing.
***
Health officials advise the public in the affected areas to meet a doctor if they have symptoms such as fever, cough, laboured breathing and body pains. They advise suspected patients to take paracetamol but not to take aspirin.
Sri Lanka Culls Chickens, Tests For Bird Flu
| COLOMBO - Sri Lanka culled 100 chickens and sent tissue samples abroad for testing for bird flu as a precautionary measure after eight people died from a flu-like virus, Health Ministry officials said on Monday. |
Initial tests conducted in Sri Lanka came out negative for avian flu, which has never previously been detected in the Indian Ocean island. "Two patients tested positive for influenza B and one for influenza A, but there is nothing to indicate that the patients are infected with the bird flu or influenza H5N1," Doctor Nihal Abeysinghe, an epidemiologist with the Ministry of Health told reporters in Colombo. More than fifty people were receiving treatment in hospitals along the country´s southern coastal belt for severe respiratory difficulties, which medical experts suspect is a variation of viral influenza, officials said. "A team of veterinarians visited the village where two deaths were reported and there was a chicken farm nearby. The team suggested we cull the birds as a precautionary measure," he added. The H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus hit other countries in Asia this year and killed 20 Vietnamese and 10 Thais. Millions of birds have been culled. |
- USCDC: Avian Influenza A(H5N1) U.S. Situation Update and CDC Activities 6 days ago
- USCDC: Urgent field correction notice 7 days ago
- Joint FAO/WHO/WOAH preliminary assessment of recent influenza A(H5N1) viruses 7 days ago
- Primers and probes for H5 and N1 qRT-PCR detection [CNIC] 8 days ago
- USDA: Actions to Protect Livestock Health From Highly Pathogenic H5N1 Avian Influenza 9 days ago
[Go Top] [Close Window]
