France says three bird flu suspects in Reunion
Wed Oct 26, 2005 6:15 PM BST12
By Bernard Grollier
SAINT-DENIS-DE-LA-R=C9UNION (Reuters) - France's Indian Ocean island of
La Reunion now has three suspected cases of bird flu among tourists
recently returned from Thailand, the French health minister said on
Wednesday.
Authorities on the island said earlier they suspected one case of the
H5N1 virus in a tourist who had just returned from a holiday in
Thailand. They had also tested two others who had traveled with him and
were showing flu symptoms.
"Today, we have three suspected cases of bird flu in the island of
Reunion," Xavier Bertrand told journalists as he left a meeting in
Paris.
"These three people who all traveled to Thailand have visited a bird
zoo where they had come into contact with birds. Initial tests have
been done there and these came out positive," he said, adding samples
had been sent to Paris and initial results from the first case would be
available on Thursday.
"For the moment, these are only suspected bird flu cases. Nothing is
confirmed," he added.
Authorities in Reunion said two tests on the first patient, a
43-year-old man, for the H5N1 avian influenza had shown different
results -- one had been uncertain, the other positive.
The man was admitted on Saturday to the Bellepierre hospital in
Saint-Denis-de-la-Reunion, showing signs of weakness and severe
headaches. The virus tests were carried out after he developed a cough
on Monday.
The man spent a week in Thailand from October 12 as one of a group of
20 tourists.
Bertrand said the medical authorities on the island judged the three
patients to be in a satisfactory condition and that they were
undergoing antiviral treatment.
He cautioned against any "dramatization" of the situation, saying it
was under control of the health authorities.
"You have to put things in their proper place. What we are talking
about today in Europe, is about the risk of a disease, of a virus that
affects animals," he said.
(Additional reporting by Helene Fontanaud)
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