October 27, 2005

French officials await Reunion human bird flu results

French officials were awaiting confirmation Thursday, on whether three people on France's Indian Ocean island of Reunion were infected with the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus.

Preliminary tests conducted earlier this week on the island for H5N1 were positive, but French authorities were awaiting results of follow-up examinations by the Pasteur Institute in Paris.

Results from there for at least one of the three patients were expected Thursday, Health Minister Xavier Bertrand said.

The three were part of a group that travelled to Thailand, where they visited a bird park and had close contact with birds, French officials said.

Reunion authorities said a 43-year-old man was first hospitalised with a fever and strong headaches Saturday, three days after spending a week in Thailand. He was being kept under observation and was receiving antiviral treatments.

Nineteen others who took the same trip were questioned about their health. Among them, two had flu symptoms, and preliminary tests for them were also positive for H5N1. They were also given antiviral treatments, but at home, the French Health Ministry said.