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Two die of bird flu
17/11/2005 08:13 - (SA)
Jakarta - The World Health Organisation has confirmed two more human bird flu deaths in Indonesia, bringing the country's total death toll from the virus to seven, a hospital spokesperson said on Thursday.
"We received confirmation from the World Health Organisation (WHO) last night that two more deaths have been confirmed as due to bird flu," Ilham Patu, spokesperson for the Sulianti Saroso Hospital in Jakarta, told AFP.
He said the two latest cases were of females aged 16 and 20 but gave no other details.
He earlier said however that a teenager identified as Sarah, 16, who died at a private hospital in South Jakarta on November 8 showing symptoms of bird flu, was being tested by WHO laboratories in Hong Kong.
60 deaths in Southeast Asia
A woman who had just come to Jakarta from Purwokerto, Central Java, had also died at the hospital showing the same symptoms last Saturday and was also being tested, he said.
Four other Indonesians have been confirmed as infected with the potentially fatal H5N1 strain of bird flu but are still alive. More than 60 people have died in Southeast Asia from the virus since 2003.
Scientists warn that continued contact between infected birds and humans might eventually result in the virus mutating into a form that could be easily passed on between people, sparking a pandemic that could kill millions.
The European Union's Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou warned on Wednesday that Indonesia needs to quickly strengthen its plan to eradicate bird flu and to boost co-ordination among its agencies to fight the disease.
The sprawling archipelago nation on Monday announced a nationwide campaign, including house-to-house checks and the possible use of troops, to contain its spread.
- AFP
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