Friday, September 16, 2005

Indonesia reports bird flu death

An Indonesian woman who died last week had the H5N1 bird flu virus and was the fourth Indonesian to die of the disease, the health ministry has said.

It was not clear how the 37-year-old woman, who lived in south Jakarta, caught the virus, the ministry said.

More than 60 people have died in four Asian countries since late 2003, and millions of birds have been culled to try to stop the virus spreading.

Scientists fear it could combine with human flu to trigger a global pandemic.

A health ministry spokesman said one of the woman's neighbours was also under surveillance for the disease.

Indonesia reported its first bird flu deaths in July, when a father and his two daughters died after coming into contact with infected chicken droppings, the government said.

The virus is believed to be widespread in poultry farms in several Indonesian provinces, and the government has resisted calls for a mass cull.

So far nearly all the human cases have been linked to infected birds.

But the real fear is that the virus might develop into a form which can be transmitted directly from person to person.

Taken from BBC News

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