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Most reported human cases of H5N1 avian influenza have been sporadic, but limited person-to-person transmission has been suggested in two instances. Investigators now report apparent person-to-person transmission in China.
The index case was a 24-year-old salesman with no obvious source of H5N1 infection; he died the day after H5N1 was detected. The second case was the young man’s 52-year-old father, who had no known source of H5N1 infection other than prolonged contact with his son in the hospital before the son’s flu diagnosis was known. The father became ill several days after his son died and was treated with oseltamivir, rimantadine, and plasma from a person who had been immunized against H5N1 in a vaccine trial; he recovered fully. H5N…