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NEW YORK, Thurs. --- Reported cases of human bird flu infections in Indonesia may just be the “tip of the iceberg” and many more could arise as the country struggles to cope with H5N1 avian influenza, an Indonesian official said yesterday. But flu experts said they doubted the disease was spreading among people across Asia, even though China reported its first three human cases of the infection. |
The H51 virus has infected at least 126 people and killed 64. There are 11 more suspected cases. It remains mostly a disease of birds but the virus could, at nay time, mutate to transmit easily among people --- at which point it would almost certainly spread quickly around the world, perhaps killing millions in a pandemic. |
In Indonesia, the H5N1 virus has been found in birds in 23 out of 33 provinces scattered across 17,000 islands. Indonesia has had nine confirmed human cases and five deaths from the H5N1 strain of bird flu. Two more deaths have been confirmed locally but not using international labs. --- Reuters.
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