[Kabar-indonesia] 3-year-old Indonesian girl died of bird flu: WHO test

[JoyoNews at aol.com]

WHO test: 3-year-old Indonesian girl died of bird flu 

JAKARTA, July 14 (AP): A World Health Organization laboratory test confirmed 
the death of a 3-year-old girl from bird flu, bringing the number of people 
killed in Indonesia to at least 41, a health official said Friday.

The toddler, from Cisauk village southwest of the capital, died in a Jakarta 
hospital on July 6, said Nyoman Kandun, a senior health ministry official.

A U.N.-recognized laboratory in Atlanta, Georgia confirmed she had the H5N1 
virus that has ravaged poultry stocks across Asia since 2003, jumping to humans 
and killing at least 131 worldwide.

Indonesia is logging new cases faster than any other nation and trails only 
Vietnam, where 42 have died, in the number of human fatalities.

The cash-strapped government has been criticized for not routinely culling 
fowl in infected areas, seen as the best way to stop the H5N1 virus from 
spreading. It says it cannot afford to compensate farmers across the sprawling 
archipelago.

Most human cases of bird flu have been linked to contact with infected 
chickens.

But experts fear the H5N1 virus could eventually mutate into a highly 
contagious form that spreads easily among people, potentially sparking a global 
pandemic that could kill millions.

Kandun said the 3-year-old girl who died last week apparently had been in 
contact with infected poultry. 

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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