Man on French Island not carrying bird flu

Tests showed that a man at first thought to have possibly been infected with the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus is in fact suffering from another type of flu, French authorities said today.

The man who was in hospital on France’s Indian Ocean island of Reunion is “not a carrier of the H5N1 virus, but of a flu virus of another type,” the Health Ministry said in a statement.

Test results are expected tomorrow for two other people suspected of having possibly contracted H5N1 on the same visit to Thailand, the ministry added.

All three first tested for H5N1 on Reunion island. Follow-up tests were conducted by the Pasteur Institute in Paris, and it said that the results for the 43-year-old man were negative.

He was being discharged from hospital today and his anti-viral medication will stop on Saturday – a full week after he was first taken to hospital with a fever and strong headaches, the Health Ministry said.

The other two are at home and their anti-viral treatments will end Sunday. Doctors are satisfied with the condition of all three patients, the ministry added.

They were among a group of 20 people that travelled to Thailand.

French officials said they visited a bird park there and had close contact with birds.

In Thailand, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said his country is “monitoring” the suspected Reunion island cases.

He insisted that bird parks remain safe in Thailand and said no Thais have contracted bird flu from visiting one.

Bird flu is difficult to diagnose properly in preliminary tests, and false positives are not uncommon.