Indonesia reports 104th bird flu death
A 16-year old Indonesian boy who died last week had bird flu, the health ministry said Saturday, bringing the toll to 104 in the nation worst hit by the disease.
By Agencies |
JAKARTA: A 16-year old Indonesian boy who died last week had bird flu, the health ministry said Saturday, bringing the toll to 104 in the nation worst hit by the disease.
"APP, male, 16 years old, is positive with bird flu based on two laboratory results," the health ministry said on its website, referring to the man by his initials.
The victim died in a hospital in the central Java city of Solo on February 10 after suffering with a fever, breathing difficulties and coughs for a week.
The ministry said the five chickens near the victim's home had died and APP had slaughtered the remaining sick birds before he fell ill.
The media also reported that a three-year-old boy from Jakarta died from the disease on Friday. The health ministry could not be reached to confirm the death.
South Jakarta health office head Togi Asmat was quoted by Okezone.com news website as saying that the three-year-old was taken to Persahabatan Hospital in the capital at midnight on Friday but later died in the morning.
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"The family thought (the boy) was sick with regular flu, he was taken to a local clinic he died at 9.30 am on Friday," Asmat said. Experts fear that the virus, which is usually spread directly from a bird to a human, could mutate into a form easily transmissible between people, sparking a deadly global pandemic.
The concern stems from past influenza pandemics one in 1918, just after the end of World War I, killed 20 million people worldwide.
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