Belgian treated for bird flu symptoms in Brussels
Key points
- A Belgian who had been visiting China has been admitted to hospital in Brussels with symptoms of bird flu, the Belgian Food Agency, a government body, said on Wednesday.
- The agency said it has begun tests to see if the patient, now in quarantine, has contracted the H5N1 virus but said it was unlikely to be the case.
- "Given that the patient does not have breathing difficulties, the chances of contamination by the H5N1 virus are estimated to be weak," said the agency in a statement.
- It said the Saint-Pierre Hospital, in the south of the capital, had contacted health inspectors after admitting the patient, who has not been identified.
A Belgian who had been visiting China has been admitted to hospital in Brussels with symptoms of bird flu, the Belgian Food Agency, a government body, said on Wednesday.
The agency said it has begun tests to see if the patient, now in quarantine, has contracted the H5N1 virus but said it was unlikely to be the case.
"Given that the patient does not have breathing difficulties, the chances of contamination by the H5N1 virus are estimated to be weak," said the agency in a statement.
It said the Saint-Pierre Hospital, in the south of the capital, had contacted health inspectors after admitting the patient, who has not been identified.
A spokesman for Belgian health minister Rudy Demotte told Reuters that the Scientific Institute for Health, which is carrying out the tests, would announce provisional results on Wednesday evening.
"This test will know 90 percent if it is bird flu or not," said Karim Ibourki.
Further tests will be carried out on Thursday to ascertain for certain if the patient has caught H5N1.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Wednesday that bird flu has infected 175 people, killing 96 of them since 2003, with the victims contracting the virus from infected birds.
Scientists fear the virus could mutate into a form that can pass from human to human, sparking a pandemic.
Written and revised by
David Cohen, M.D.
Our doctors write and review articles for accuracy and keep them up to date.
health.am provides general information, not medical advice. Always consult a qualified health professional about your own health.
Explore health topics
More in this topic
Infections, HIV & STIs →NewsBird flu hits poultry near Vietnam capital
Bird flu has hit another province in northern Vietnam despite government efforts to halt its spread, the Agriculture Ministry said on Monday. Tests on ducks and chicken at a poultry farm in Bac Ninh province, just 30…
29 May 2007
NewsAmericans piled up Tamiflu on bird flu fear
Fears of a bird flu outbreak led Americans to hoard the antiviral drug Tamiflu in 2005, with prescriptions spiking most sharply when media coverage rose, a study released on Tuesday said. Filled prescriptions for…
18 October 2006
NewsBird flu back again in Egypt
According to the World Health Organisation, Egypt has reported it's first case of bird flu in five months. This latest case has appeared in a woman from the Nile Delta province of Gharbiya; she has been hospitalised…
13 October 2006
