January 19, 2006

Three-year-old boy dies of bird flu in Indonesia 
 

A three-year-old Indonesian boy whose sister died of bird flu last week also succumbed to the disease, authorities said Thursday, confirming the country's steadily climbing case load.

Local laboratory tests showed the boy contracted the virus, said Dr Runizar Roesin from Indonesia's bird flu information centre. The boy died on Tuesday in the west Javanese city of Bandung, he said.

The boy's sister died of bird flu over the weekend, according to local tests.

Another sibling is also suffering from bird flu-like symptoms, including fever and respiratory problems, officials say.

Blood and swab samples from all three children have been sent to a World Health Organization laboratory based in Hong Kong for confirmation.

So far, Indonesia has confirmed 12 deaths but if tests for the two dead siblings come back positive from the WHO lab, the toll will climb to 14.

Bird flu has killed hundreds of millions of chickens and ducks since it started ravaging poultry stocks across Asia in 2003, and has jumped to humans. Most of the human bird flu deaths have been in Vietnam and Thailand.

Health officials say there is no evidence in Indonesia or elsewhere that the virus is passing easily between humans.