November 17, 2005

Two more human bird flu deaths in Indonesia confirmed
 

The number of people killed by bird flu in Indonesia climbed to seven Thursday, after a Hong Kong laboratory confirmed two more deaths.

Two young women, aged 20 and 16, died of the disease earlier this month, health ministry official Hariadi Wibison said after the test results came back.

The virulent H5N1 strain of bird flu has in the last two years ravaged poultry stocks across Southeast Asia, jumping to humans and killing more than 60.

Most human victims have contracted the disease from sick birds, but experts feared the virus would mutate into a form that is easily transmitted between people, sparking a possible pandemic that could kill millions worldwide.