Jakarta has 'bird flu epidemic'
2005-09-21 07:56
Jakarta - An outbreak of bird flu in the Indonesian capital that has killed at least four people and is suspected of sickening several others has become an epidemic, the health minister said on Wednesday.
Siti Fadila Supari made the remarks hours after a five-year-old girl hospitalised with symptoms of bird flu died.
Supari said authorities suspect the girl, Rizka Hardianto, had bird flu, and blood samples had been sent to Hong Kong for laboratory tests. If bird flu is confirmed, she would be Indonesia's fifth known human fatality from the virus.
"This could be called .... an epidemic," she told reporters. "It will likely claim more victims because the source is not clear," she added, without elaborating.
The H5N1 strain of bird flu has swept through poultry populations in large swathes of Asia since 2003, killing at least 63 people and resulting in the deaths of tens of millions of birds.
Most human cases have been linked to contact with sick birds. But the World Health Organisation has warned that the virus could mutate into a form that can easily spread among humans, possibly triggering a global pandemic that could kill millions.
Indonesia has reported infections in chicken flocks at farms across the sprawling country.
On Tuesday, the government issued a 21-day state of high alert against the disease, assigning 44 state-owned hospitals to treat avian influenza patients and make sure all receive free medication.
The extra measures also mean that patients with symptoms of the disease - including high fever, coughing and breathing difficulties - could be forcibly admitted to hospitals.
- AP