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Bird flu claims 9th Indonesian
13/12/2005 10:51 - (SA)
Jakarta - A 35-year-old Indonesian man who died last month had been confirmed by World Health Organisation (WHO) tests as being the country's ninth bird flu victim, said the health minister on Monday.
Siti Fadillah Supari said: "The WHO has confirmed the results. We have now nine confirmed bird flu deaths."
She said that the latest casualty, confirmed by tests at the WHO testing laboratory in Hong Kong, was a man who died at the private Pantai Indah Kapuk hospital in North Jakarta on November 19.
Supari said Indonesia had now confirmed a total of 14 cases of bird flu infections, including the nine dead.
Bird flu treatment
Health authorities here tested suspected cases locally before sending positive results to Hong Kong for verification.
The latest victim killed by the deadly H5N1 strain of avian influenza was identified only by his initials, AW. He came from a residential area in West Jakarta, where many of those infected so far had hailed from.
Reports said he had been scheduled to transfer to Sulianti Saroso Hospital in North Jakarta, the main centre in Indonesia for bird flu treatment, but his critical condition had prevented it.
More than a dozen further bird flu deaths were suspected to have occurred in Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous country.
Bird flu claims 70 people
Animal health experts were also struggling to keep track of numerous clusters of bird infections and deaths.
The bird flu virus had now killed at least 70 people in Asia since 2003.
Scientists warned that continued contact between infected birds and humans might eventually result in the virus mutating into a form that could be easily passed on by humans, sparking a pandemic that could kill millions.
Indonesia - which was accused of covering up initial outbreaks of bird flu - had pledged a yearlong fight against the virus, which would include house-to-house checks and culls.
- AFP
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