More suspected bird flu patients hospitalized
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The number of people showing symptoms of bird flu continued to rise on Thursday as six more people suspected of being infected with the virus were admitted to Sulianti Saroso Hospital in Sunter, North Jakarta.
Sulianti Saroso Hospital deputy director Sardikin Giri Putro said that with the six new patients, the number of people who had been admitted to hospital for suspected bird flu had risen to 14.
"They have symptoms similar to people infected with bird flu. All of them have been in recent contact with birds or visited Ragunan Zoo several days earlier," he told The Jakarta Post.
The six new patients include an eight-year-old boy from Cilandak, South Jakarta, who arrived at the hospital at 11:30 p.m. on Wednesday with acute respiratory problems and a high temperature.
The boy visited Ragunan Zoo in South Jakarta on Sept. 17. The zoo has been closed since Monday after 19 birds tested positive for bird flu.
A 10-year-old girl from Cibubur in East Jakarta, a one year- old-boy from Cakung, East Jakarta and a 19-year-old man from Cilandak arrived at almost the same time -- 1:00 a.m. on Thursday -- at the hospital
Both the girl and the boy had visited Ragunan Zoo recently, while the man, who works for a cleaning company, fed birds in his office every day.
A man from Cikarang, Bekasi, West Java arrived at the hospital at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday accompanied by his family. One of his family members said the man's temperature had risen soon after 15 of his chickens had died.
A 55-year-old civil servant from Sunter was taken to the Sulianti Saroso hospital at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday. He reportedly got sick after 11 of his chickens died.
Of the 15 patients, only two -- a seven-year-old girl from Tangerang and a nine-year-old boy from South Jakarta -- have tested positive for the H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus.
"Two have tested positive. We are still waiting for the test results from the Ministry of Health laboratory to confirm the conditions of the other patients," Sardikin said.
A five-year-old girl and a two-year-old girl who had exhibited the symptoms of bird flu died on Wednesday after being treated at the Sulianti Saroso and Cikini hospitals respectively since Tuesday afternoon.
Minister of Health Siti Fadilah Supari, however, said that an initial test suggested that the five-year old girl had not been infected with the virus. A test on a blood sample from the two- year old girl has not yet been concluded.
So far, four people have been confirmed to have died of bird flu in the country.
Meanwhile, the city's husbandry, agriculture and maritime agency said it would follow up Governor Sutiyoso's instruction to rearrange the zoning for livestock areas as well as slaughter houses to prevent the bird flu outbreak from worsening.
"But, we are not going to ban private ownership of poultry. The rule will only apply to business entities related to poultry," said the agency's officer Hery Indiyanto.