Fifth human bird flu death confirmed, infections rise to nine
Fifth human bird flu death confirmed, infections rise to nine
Agencies, Jakarta
Two more cases of bird flu, including a 19-year-old woman who died in October, were confirmed on Saturday, bringing the total number of human infections in the country to nine.
Senior official at the Ministry of Health, Hariadi Wibisono, told Reuters on Saturday that the woman's nephew, who was being treated in a Jakarta hospital, had also tested positive for the disease.
He said a Hong Kong laboratory confirmed that both victims had bird flu, but it was not immediately clear how the young boy contracted the disease.
Her death, he added, brings the number of people killed by the disease in the country to five.
Hariadi said the woman and the boy lived in the same house in Tangerang, about 40 kilometers southwest of Jakarta and was the site of the country's first confirmed human deaths from avian influenza in July, but it did not mean the virus had mutated and jumped from one to the other.
"No, we cannot confirm that. Both of them got ill because of dead chickens in their house ... But we are still investigating these cases," he said, adding that the ministry was awaiting further test results from Hong Kong that might shed light on how the disease was transmitted.
Tests on another two children who were in hospital with bird flu-like symptoms had come back negative, while a similar case involving a nurse was still under investigation, Hariadi said, adding that the eight-year-old boy confirmed with the disease "is in a good condition".
Ilham Patu, spokesman for Jakarta's Sulianti Saroso hospital where the nurse with flu-like symptoms was being treated, said the nurse also came from the Tangerang area.
"The initial test from the health ministry laboratory is negative," he said, but added that further testing was being done in Indonesia and Hong Kong.
The flu's H5N1 virus has infected at least 123 people in Asia and killed 63, giving a known mortality rate of more than 50 percent. Most cases have been blamed on direct or indirect contact with infected chickens. But scientists fear the virus will mutate into a form that passes easily between humans. In that case, millions could die and national economies could be crippled.
Meanwhile, the World Bank said it was finalizing plans to provide up to US$500 million to help poor countries fight bird flu, as new cases were reported in China and Vietnam.
The plan comes as the bank prepares to take part in an international conference in Geneva next week to discuss managing bird flu outbreaks, as well as plans to cope with a possible human flu pandemic.
The World Bank funding package could be used by low-income countries to "supplement government resources, to strengthen the veterinary systems and to put in place culling and vaccine programs for animals," Jim Adams, the World Bank's vice president for operations policy and country services, was quoted by AP.
Between $300 million and $500 million is being considered, the World Bank said on Friday.
The World Health Organization urged governments on Saturday to offer compensation to farmers who lose their poultry to bird flu, warning that many were reluctant to report sick birds through fear of losing their income.
"We have to ask farmers, particularly rural farmers, to report any unusual deaths of chickens," WHO western Pacific regional director Shigeru Omi told reporters in Hong Kong.