More Bird Flu in Iraq

The WHO reports that the original suspected case of avian influenza in Iraq has been confirmed, her uncle has also died of "a severe respiratory disease," and another woman from the area is also a suspected case.

An international team, including representatives of other UN agencies, is being assembled to assist the Ministry of Health in its investigation of the situation and its planning of an appropriate public health response. WHO staff within Iraq have been directly supporting the government’s operational response, which was launched shortly after the girl’s death.
Iraq is the seventh country to report human H5N1 infection in the current outbreak. The first human case occurred in Viet Nam in December 2003.