December 13, 2004

Indonesia Detects New Bird Flu Outbreak

An outbreak of bird flu has been detected in eastern Indonesia. The virus infected more than 20,000 chickens, highlighting the country's continuing struggle against the disease.

Authorities in Mataram, the capital of Lombok island, are distributing some 250,000 doses of vaccine to farmers in the worst-hit area to control the spread.

The strain of the disease was not identified. No human cases were also reported on the island, 670 miles east of Jakarta.

Bird flu wreaked havoc in Asia earlier this year, killing millions of birds. The H5N1 strain also jumped to humans, killing 32 people in Vietnam and Thailand.

Indonesia suffered outbreaks of the disease in several regions in February and July, but there were no reported cases of human infections.

The World Health Organization has warned that if the current avian flu virus mutates into a form that spreads easily among people, it could lead to the next global flu pandemic, where tens of millions of people will be killed worldwide.