November 4, 2005

Indonesia suspects bird flu in three children
 

Three Indonesian children, all under five years of age, were recently suspected with bird flu, according to Health Minister Siti Fadillah Supari. The children suffered high fever, breath shortness and symptoms of viral infection. Supari added that hopefully test results would be out soon.

Meanwhile, Vietnamese authorities suspected bird flu in a 25-year-old woman. Vietnamese hospital officials also said a 14-year-old girl and a 26-year-old man who died recently had bird flu symptoms. However, a senior health official ruled out bird flu as the cause of death, although doctors said they have not done any confirmatory tests.

Reports said the prime ministers of Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Thailand and Laos recently signed a cooperative agreement in Bangkok, to provide surveillance training and set up monitoring systems to contain outbreaks. However, the leaders also acknowledged that some poor countries with only basic health and monitoring systems would require assistance from international agencies and donor countries.

Meanwhile, the US said it would set aside US$251 million to help detect and contain bird flu outbreaks in affected regions before they spread. This included testing an experimental H5N1 vaccine in Vietnam and helping countries develop their own anti-bird flu plans.

China also said it would set aside RMB2 billion to curb the disease's spread.