H5N1: Egypt stays on Indonesia's heels, but case-fatality rates widen:
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
Egypt's central public health laboratory and the World Health Organization's H5 reference laboratory in Cairo (NAMRU-3) have confirmed a new human case of H5N1 avian influenza. It takes the total this year in that country to 20 cases, with five deaths. Egypt ranks close behind only Indonesia this year in terms of incidence, but the two countries' case-fatality rates are poles apart: compared with Egypt's 25%, of the 27 cases reported this year by the Jakarta authorities, 23 (85%) have been fatal. Global case-fatality stands at 60% of both the 56 cases reported so far this year and the 319 total since 2003. (For a recent global round-up and analysis, see Clinica No 1265, p 9).