Indonesian Boy Dies Of Bird Flu, Putting Death Toll To 105

[sbk]

Indonesian boy dies of bird flu, putting death toll to 105

JAKARTA, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- A three year-old Indonesian boy from South Jakarta has died of avian influenza, putting the total fatality to 105 out of 129 cases in the hardest-hit country, health ministry said here.

Indonesian health ministry's director general for illness control and environmental health I Nyoman Kandun said Sunday all examinations on the boy's blood samples had showed that he was contracted by H5N1 virus.

"Both laboratory tests has indicated that he is positively infected," Kandun told Xinhua.

The boy died on Friday at a bird flu-designed hospital of Persahabatan in east Jakarta, a day after he was shifted to the hospital from a hospital in Tanggerang in an outskirt city of Jakarta, head of task force team of eradicating bird flu of Persahabatan hospital Mukhtar Ikhsan said.

He did not give any comment on where the boy first got initial medical treatment before he was rushed to the hospital in Tanggerang.

"He died two days ago, on Friday," he said.

Experts have blamed improper initial medical treatment as one of the main cause of the highest fatality rates in Indonesia.

Ikhsan said it was not clear yet whether the boy had historical contact with fowl, but he suspected the butchering centers around the boy houses.

"There are many butchering centers for chickens around the boy's house," he said.

Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous country and home to millions of backyard chickens, is considered a possible hot spot for spreading the disease, although the country has culled millions of chickens and pigs.

The country has been at the front row in fighting to combat the spreading of highly pathogenic H5N1 viruses, which have slowly and persistently spread on human.

Millions of people can be killed should the virus mutate in a level that can make it transmittable among humans, experts have said.

Indonesia has grappled with major problem on its effort to stop the spread of the virus spread, including huge territory, traditional way of rising chickens on back yard and lack of obedience of provincial administration in implementing the Jakarta decision to stop the virus spread. (Xinhua)