Bird Flu Takes another Life in Indonesia, Toll Now 88
 Bernama, 16 Oct 2007

JAKARTA, Oct 16 (Bernama) -- A 12-year-old boy at Ceger village in Tangerang district in Banten province near here died of the H5N1 virus over the weekend, bringing to 88 the death toll in bird flu cases in Indonesia, a health official reported.

The boy was brought to a local midwife on Oct 3 after suffering from fever for three days, said head of the communicable disease control and prevention section at the Tangerang district health office, Dr Yuliah Iskandar.

As his health condition deteriorated, the boy was transferred to the Tangerang regional hospital where he underwent a medical test on Oct 8, she

said, as quoted by Antara news agency Tuesday.

He was later moved to Persahabatan Hospital in Jakarta on Oct 9 for further medical treatment as he had tested positive for bird flu based on the result of a laboratory test conducted by the Health Research and Development Agency and the Eijkmann Institute, she added.

In anticipation of the possible spread of the H5N1 virus in the area, the district health office had sent officers to Ceger village to take samples of the blood of boy's relatives and neighbors.

Dr Yuliah said the boy did not have contact with dead chicken before being infected with the bird flu virus and neither did his parents raise poultry in their backyard.

"But there is backyard poultry about 500 metres from the victim's house," she said. -- BERNAMA