H5N1 not confirmed: French case not Bird Flu

French press sources in Alsace have just reported that the 69 year old male who returned with respiratory difficulties after a 15 day vacation visit to Vietnam and Cambodia earlier in the week does not appear to have influenza A (H5N1). Because of heightened concern over a possible pandemic from this virus (see earlier post), the patient was isolated in an intensive care unit at Central University Hospital in Nancy, pending diagnostic tests. Blood and tissue samples were sent to the Pasteur Institute in Paris where it was determined that H5N1 virus was not present. The cause of his current illness is still not determined.