The Ministry of Health in Indonesia has confirmed the country's 52nd case of human Avian Influenza (H5N1) infection. The case, which was fatal, occurred in a 5-year-old boy from East Java. The boy became ill on 8 June and died on 16 June. Laboratory testing of poultry in his neighbourhood confirmed the presence of H5N1 in chickens. Of the 52 cases confirmed to date in Indonesia, 40 have been fatal.

In addition, a 3-year-old girl from Jakarta's western suburb, who has died, was tested positive for Avian influenza by a local test, pending further confirmation by World Health Organization’s laboratory.

Egypt newspaper Al-Wafd reported on its Website that an 18-year-old woman died of Avian Influenza (H5N1) at a general hospital in Qena in southern Egypt.

In Hungary, a new outbreak of highly pathogenic Avian Influenza (H5N1) has occurred in 6 farms in Bacs-Kiskun province since 4 June 2006. These included 2 farms in Bodoglar, 3 in Moricgat and 1 in Szank. Over 62 000 birds were affected.

An outbreak of highly pathogenic Avian Influenza (H5N2) was confirmed in a farm at Riversdale in Western Cape province of South Africa. The farm had been placed under quarantine and all 60 of its ostriches were culled.

Authorities in Spain have confirmed the country's first case of Avian Influenza. Avian Influenza virus subtype H5N1 was detected from a dead wild bird that had been found in the marshes in Salburua lake, near the city of Vitoria in the northern province of Alava.

During the past few days, more than 2000 poultries have died in the Phichit province of northern Thailand. Laboratory tests were being carried out to find out the cause.

In Russia, 306 people (including 9 children) have suffered from Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome since the beginning of 2006. The figure was 26 percent more than that for the same period in 2005. All affected persons had contracted infection during visits to the countryside involving forest walks or fishing trips. The patients were predominantly inhabitants of the cities of Ufa, Ufimskiy, Iglinskiy, Blagoveshchenskiy, Birskiy and Nurimanivskiy located along the course of the rivers Belaya and Ufa..

Twelve people died of Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever in Turkey this year, while another 13 people were being treated in hospital. Since the disease first appeared in Turkey in 2003, 44 people have died with case fatality around 5 percent. Most of them occurred in the central Anatolia provinces.

(Source: ProMED-mail 5 July 2006)

The Centre for Health Protection of Hong Kong Department of Health confirmed an imported case of Dengue Fever, bringing to 15 cases so far this year. The 31-year-old male patient complained of fever, eye pain, weakness and skin rash since June 25. He had travelled to Thailand prior to onset of symptoms.