Indonesia records 51 people dead of bird flu
25/9/2006 17:06
Indonesian Health Ministry confirmed today a nine-year-old boy, who died
last week, positively infected by avian influenza, bringing the total death to
51 out of 67 cases.
Director of Environmental Health and Disease Control of
the ministry Nyoman Kandun said that the boy, from the capital city of Jakarta,
had contacted with fowls.
The total deaths from the highly pathogenic H5N1
virus in Indonesia have surpassed Vietnam, making the country the world most
hard hit by the virus.
Experts fears that the virus could mutate into a
certain level that can make it transmittable among humans.
The huge
territory, back yard centered farming and relatively lack budget have hampered
the authorities in the country to fighting the highly the avian
influenza.
Asia has been the hardest hit, with 129 out the 146 human deaths
arising from bird flu since 2003 occurring in East Asian countries, according to
the data from the World Bank.
Xinhua News
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