October 6, 2006

Fresh culling begins in Indonesia as bird flu cases mount

More than 1,000 poultry were culled in Indonesia Thursday (Oct 5) in a village where preliminary tests showed a 15-year-old boy died from bird flu.

Indonesia is struggling with a rash of human deaths from the virus recently.

About 1,300 chickens were killed within a half mile of the boy's house in the Tasikmalaya district of West Java province, said Budi Utama, head of the local animal and fisheries agency.

Indonesian tests on Wednesday found that the boy had contracted bird flu, and officials were awaiting confirmation from a World Health Organization laboratory in Hong Kong.

At least 36 people have died in Indonesia from bird flu, out of a world toll of 127. The country averaged one human bird flu death every 2 1/2 days in May, surpassing Vietnam's 42 deaths.