Indonesian man dies of bird flu
(AP)
Updated: 2006-04-28 14:04
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- An Indonesian man died of the H5N1 strain of bird
flu after coming into contact with his neighbor's infected chickens, a senior
health official said Friday, citing local laboratory tests.
A swab and
blood sample from the 30-year-old man have been sent to a World Health
Organization-sanctioned laboratory in Hong Kong for confirmation, said Hariadi
Wibisono, a director at the Health Ministry.
If confirmed, his death
will raise Indonesia's human toll from H5N1 to 25 - the second highest in the
world after Vietnam.
The sprawling archipelago is logging cases faster
than any other country, leading some international health experts to say it
could do more to battle the virus.
Wibisono said the man who died on
Wednesday had contact with poultry in Tangerang, a city 40 kilometers (25 miles)
west of the capital Jakarta that has tallied several deaths.
The lethal
H5N1 virus has killed 113 people worldwide, mostly in Asia, according to the
WHO.
Health experts say it remains difficult for humans to catch H5N1,
but they fear the virus could mutate into a form more easily transmitted among
people and set off a flu endemic that could kill millions worldwide.
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