Published Date: 2005-07-24 23:50:00
Subject: PRO/EDR> Undiagnosed deaths - China (Sichuan): RFI
Archive Number: 20050724.2131
UNDIAGNOSED DEATHS - CHINA (SICHUAN): REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
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[1]
Date: 23 Jul 2005
From: Irene Lai <iwlai@attglobal.net>
Source: Xinhua Net [edited]
<http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-07/23/content_3257310.htm >
Unknown disease claims 9 lives in Sichuan
-----------------------------------------
An unknown disease has stricken 20 villagers and killed 9 of them in south
west China's Sichuan Province over the past 4 weeks, the provincial health
department confirmed on Saturday. A team of experts from the Ministry of
Health and Ministry of Agriculture are in Sichuan to provide medical aid
and conduct epidemiological investigation.
Between 24 Jun and 21 Jul [2005], 3 hospitals in the city of Ziyang
received 20 patients with similar symptoms. They all started with a high
fever, fatigue, nausea, and vomiting and became comatose later with bruises
under the skin. By 21 Jul [2005], 9 patients had died and one had recovered
and been discharged from hospital. 10 more were still being treated, 6 of
whom were in a critical condition, the provincial health department said.
The patients, 19 men and a woman, are all farmers aged between 30 and 70.
They are from 15 villages in Yanjiang and Jianyang and they all butchered
sick pigs or sheep before coming down with the strange disease, a
preliminary investigation has found. But the detected cases are not
interrelated and no infection has been found in any close contact of the
patients, the investigators said.
Medical workers are carrying out laboratory work hoping to determine the
exact cause of the disease, though experts suspect exposure to the sick, as
well as the dead, animals is mainly to blame. The local government has
ordered all-out efforts to treat the patients and banned killing of sick
pigs and sheep. It also instructed that animals killed by diseases are
disinfected carefully and buried deep, and that farmers should avoid direct
contact with sick or dead animals.
--
Dr Irene Lai
International SOS Online
<iwlai@attglobal.net>
******
[2]
Date: 23 Jul 2005
From: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
Source: <http://www.info.gov.hk/dh/new/index.htm>
Deaths of unknown cause reported in Sichuan
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The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH) is
closely monitoring developments concerning reports of deaths due to unknown
cause in Sichuan. A CHP spokesman said today (July 23) that the CHP had
been informed by the Ministry of Health in the mainland about such reports.
The spokesman said that the CHP was maintaining close communication with
the Ministry of Health and would continue monitoring the situation closely.
The public are advised to observe the following as precautionary measures
during travel especially to rural areas:
to prevent insect bites by wearing long-sleeve clothes and trousers;
use insect repellants over the exposed parts of the body;
use mosquito screens or nets when the room is not air-conditioned;
clean and cover all wounds properly and avoid exposing open wounds to soil,
polluted stream or pond water and any contaminated object;
to avoid contact with sick or dead animals and their excreta or body fluid;
avoid contact with unknown chemicals, including agricultural chemicals such
as pesticides, herbicides, rodenticides etc;
observe good personal, food and environmental hygiene practices;
Returning travellers should consult their medical doctors and report their
travel history if they do not feel well.
--
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[From the first newswire, there is a high suspicion that this outbreak may
be due to Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF), known to be endemic in
livestock in southern portions of China. According to GIDEON (Global
Infectious Diseases & Epidemiology Network <http://www.gideononline.net>),
CCHF was first reported in China in 1964, and is known locally as Xinjiang
hemorrhagic fever. Cases are reported from the south west region. 260 cases
(54 fatal) were reported in Xinjiang (southern desert region) during 1964
to 1995. 10 to 20 per cent of sheep, goats, and cattle in Sichuan are
seropositive. This latter information raises the index of suspicion that
CCHF is a likely candidate.
While CCHF is usually thought of as a tickborne disease, caused by an RNA
virus of the Bunyaviridae family, it can also be transmitted through
contact with infected bodily fluids from people (in nosocomial outbreaks)
and animals (as possibly described above in the newswire).
Another of the hemorrhagic fevers seen in the region is hemorrhagic renal
syndrome associated with hantavirus infection. The description above makes
that diagnosis less likely, although one must recognize that newswire
descriptions may not necessarily be representative of the actual clinical
picture.
More information on this outbreak from authoritative sources would be
appreciated. - Mod.MPP]
[Elsevier online reference: Sheikha AS, et al. Bi-annual surge of
Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF): a five-year experience. Int J
Infect Dis 2005; 9(1): 37-42 <http://tinyurl.com/7rnvc>]
See Also
Crimean-Congo hem. fever - Russia (Rostov) 20050710.1960Crimean-Congo hem. fever - Russia (Stavropol) (02) 20050708.1932
Hemorrhagic fever - China (Inner Mongolia) 20050701.1863
Crimean-Congo hem. fever - Russia (Stavropol) 20050501.1214
2004
---
Crimean-Congo hem. fever - Russia (Stavropol) 20040610.1563
2003
---
Crimean-Congo hem. fever - Russia (Stavropol) 20030718.1768
2002
---
Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever - Iran 20020525.4320
Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever - Pakistan 20020228.3643
2001
---
Crimean-Congo HF - Iran 20011016.2540
Crimean-Congo HF - Afghanistan, Pakistan 20011004.2409
Crimean-Congo hem. fever - Russia: update June 2001 20010626.1209
Crimean-Congo hem. fever - Pakistan (Baluchistan) 20010531.1071
Crimean-Congo hem. fever - Russian Federation 20010511.0914
Crimean-Congo hem. fever - Russia (Stavropol) 20010503.0853
Crimean-Congo hem. fever - Russia (Stavropol & Dagestan) 20010426.0819
Crimean-Congo HF - Pakistan (NW Frontier): confirmed 20010424.0800
2000
---
Crimean-Congo hem. fever - Pakistan (Baluchistan) 20000925.1651
Crimean-Congo hem. fever - Russia (Volgograd) 20000726.1241
Crimean-Congo hem. fever - Russia (Dagestan) 20000703.1101
Crimean-Congo hem. fever - Kazakhstan, Russia 20000629.1072
Crimean-Congo hem. fever - Russia (Kalmykia) 20000608.0921
Crimean-Congo hem. fever - Russia (Stavropol) 20000513.0739
1999
---
Hemorrhagic fever - Russia (Rostov, Stavropol) 19990721.1234
Crimean-Congo hem. fever - Russia (south) 19990703.1116
1998
---
Hemorrhagic fever, epidemic warning - China 19980905.1782
......................mpp/pg/sh
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