December 16, 2005

Tests show Indonesian man died of bird flu

Local tests showed a 39-year-old man who died earlier this week had bird flu, an Indonesian official said Friday, but a Hong Kong laboratory has yet to confirm the findings.

If the results come back positive, the man would be the 10th human bird flu death in Indonesia, senior Health Ministry official I Nyoman Kandun said.

The H5N1 bird flu virus has ravaged poultry stocks across Asia since 2003 and killed at least 71 humans, most of them in Vietnam and Thailand.

Most human cases of the disease have been traced to contact with infected birds. Experts fear the virus could mutate into a form that passes easily between people, possibly sparking a pandemic.

The victim lived in a wealthy southern district of the capital, Jakarta, and 10 birds found in his neighborhood also tested positive for the disease and were immediately killed, local health officials said.

Blood samples have also been taken from the man's relatives and neighbours to see if they contracted the disease.