November 23, 2005

Indonesian bird flu cases more than those reported

The number of human bird flu cases in Indonesia is likely to be far higher than reported because of poor surveillance outside the capital, the health minister said Tuesday.

There have been 11 confirmed cases of bird flu in Indonesia since July, seven of them fatal. All but two occurred in the greater Jakarta area.

"Jakarta is better at detecting cases," said Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari when asked about the concentration in the capital. "I'm afraid that there are also many cases in other areas that are going undetected."

Outbreaks of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu have devastated poultry flocks across Asia since 2003 and have resulted in at least 67 human deaths.

Most people who have died or were sickened by bird flu had contact with sick birds. But international health experts fear the virus could mutate into a form that can be easily transmitted between people.