Bird flu claims another victim

2005-09-26 09:59

Jakarta - A fifth Indonesian has died of bird flu, hospital officials said on Monday, one week after the country declared it was facing an "extraordinary" outbreak of the virus.

The woman, 27, died on Monday and was one of five patients who had tested positive for bird flu at the Sulianto Saroso hospital for infectious diseases, said Sardikin Giriputro, deputy head of the hospital.

He said tests done in Indonesia on her saliva and blood were positive for bird flu but samples had been sent to Hong Kong for further testing.

The latest death brought to 64 the number of people in Southeast Asia known to have died from the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus since 2003. Vietnam has recorded 43, Thailand 12 and Cambodia four.

Numerous fatalities

Ilham Patu, spokesperson for the hospital, identified the latest victim as Karwati and said she had been in contact with fowl which had also died. She was admitted to the hospital four days before her death, he said.

Karwati's death comes 10 days after officials announced the death of a 37-year-old Jakarta woman from bird flu.

An auditor and his two young daughters died in suburban Jakarta in July. The government said infected chicken droppings were suspected to have caused their deaths.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) fears H5N1 will mutate, acquiring genes from the human influenza virus that would make it highly infectious and lethal to millions in a global pandemic.

But WHO has urged calm, saying investigations in Indonesia had produced no evidence that H5N1 was spreading easily from person to person.

Indonesian officials and the WHO were to hold a press briefing on Monday to discuss the outbreak in Indonesia, an archipelago of about 220 million people where fowl often roam through tightly-packed city neighbourhoods.

More patients showing symptoms

Sardikin said on Sunday that, in addition to the five people who had tested positive for bird flu, the hospital was awaiting results on 12 other patients showing symptoms.

Foreign donors on Friday promised to help Indonesia step up its battle against bird flu after the United Nations warned of a worrying situation and urged the country to improve its virus control policies.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) urged Indonesia to make fighting bird flu a national priority.

"Avian influenza has become endemic in Indonesia and it is continuing to spread," said Joseph Domenech, chief veterinary officer of the Rome-based agency.

"In view of the worrying situation, it is necessary for the government to improve its virus control policies and strategies," he said.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Friday evening said he had ordered culling in heavily-infected areas.

The WHO requires that poultry within a radius of 3km from any bird flu outbreak should be killed. But massive culling would be difficult in Indonesia, where most poultry roam people's backyards.

- AFP