Bird flu toll rises, but under control: Govt<\/p>\n
Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Another avian influenza fatality was confirmed on Monday as a 27
\nyear-old woman died in a hospital here, after being treated since
\nThursday.<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Health confirmed on Monday that the woman,
\nidentified as K., had contracted the H5N1 strain of the virus,
\nthe most deadly for humans.<\/p>\n
It was not immediately clear how or where she contracted the
\nvirus, but it was known that she had been in contact with
\nchickens that died from an \"unknown cause\".<\/p>\n
Sardikin Giriputro, deputy head of the Sulianti Saroso
\nhospital said that 15 chickens at the woman's home in Cikarang,
\nBekasi, had died, according to her family. At least one estimate
\nhas it that 80 percent of the chicken population in the country
\nare free-range \"backyard chickens\" owned by families.<\/p>\n
\"But we don't know whether her chickens died because of bird
\nflu or not,\" Sardikin said.<\/p>\n
The ministry put the country's death toll at six. Based on the
\nWorld Health Organization's testing standards, however, there
\nhave been only three fatalities, Iwan Siswara, Rini Dina and K.
\nThe other three -- Iwan's two daughters and another girl, 5-year-
\nold Riska, who died last week -- tested negative on their PCR
\n(Polymerase Chain Reaction) saliva test.<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Health's director-general of infectious
\ndiseases, I Nyoman Kandun, said that although the saliva sample
\ntested negative, the ministry had classified Riska's case as an
\navian flu death based on the blood analysis, which was positive.<\/p>\n
Sardikin said that four of the 22 people who had recently been
\nadmitted to the hospital with bird flu-like symptoms, were
\nallowed to go home because they had been found free of the
\ndisease, while another patient, F., had made a full recovery.<\/p>\n
Minister of Health Siti Fadilah Supari said that despite the
\ngrowing toll, the situation appeared to be under control, and
\nreiterated that there had been no confirmed case of human-to-
\nhuman transmission.<\/p>\n
\"The death toll is less than in Vietnam and Thailand. People
\nmust not panic,\" she said.<\/p>\n
The H5N1 strain has been spread through poultry populations in
\nsoutheastern Asia since 2003, jumping to humans and killing at
\nleast 65 people, mostly in Vietnam, which has seen 41 fatalities.<\/p>\n
The virus has spread to 22 provinces in the country, killing
\nmore than 9.5 million birds.<\/p>\n
The government said that it would commence a poultry cull in
\naffected areas in the near future.<\/p>\n
Siti added that 200,000 tablets of the anti-viral drug
\noseltamivir (brand name Tamiflu), were expected to arrive in the
\ncountry by Tuesday, with another 200,000 tablets later in the
\nweek.<\/p>\n
She said the medicine was being provided by donor countries
\nand agencies, and was enough to treat 40,000 people with 10
\ntablets per person.<\/p>\n
The Australian government announced on Monday that it would
\ndonate 100,000 tablets of Tamiflu to Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, deputy Japanese Ambassador Masafumi Kuroki said on
\nMonday that a team of Japanese experts would arrive on Tuesday
\nand stay in the country for a week to study the virus.<\/p>\n
Coordinating with related ministries here, the team's mission
\nwas to gather information about the situation of avian influenza
\nand to give advice on countermeasures against the disease.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/bird-flu-toll-rises-but-under-control-govt-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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