Indonesia confirms two bird flu deaths
NST, 20 Dec 2005

JAKARTA, Mon. --- Tests conducted in Indonesia have shown that an eight-year-old man died of bird flu, a top health official said today.

“Tests by the Health Ministry’s laboratory showed that both of them had died after contracting the virus”, said Hariyadi Wibisono, the ministry’s director for vector-borne disease control.

He said samples from the man were also being tested in a Hong Kong laboratory accredited by the World Health   Organization    to     determine

whether he died of the H5N1 strain of bird flu.

If confirmed, the man would be the 10^th fatality from avian influenza in Indonesia. The south Jakarta resident died last Tuesday after being admitted the previous day to the Sulianti Saroso hospital.

Ilhal Patu, a spokesman for the hospital, Indonesia’s main bird flu treatment centre, said he expected to receive results for the boy from the WHO-accredited laboratory “in the next four of five days”.

The boy, who died last Thursday at a private hospital in Jakarta, is suspected of being the country’s 11^th victim.

Most victims have come from Jakarta and surrounding provinces. --- AFP.