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JAKARTA: A 16-year-old Indonesian girl has died of suspected bird
flu, a doctor said Sunday.
The girl, Sumiarsih, died on Saturday afternoon,
three days after being admitted for treatment at the Sulianti Saroso
bird flu referral hospital in the Indonesian capital, hospital
spokesman Ilham Patu told Agence France-Presse.
“She showed all the symptoms of bird flu
infection such as high fever, coughing and low blood cell count,”
Patu said.
“But we have not yet received the results of
tests of samples taken from her. She remains a suspected bird flu
case,” Patu said.
Health Minister Spokesperson Lili Sulistiawati
confirmed officials were still awaiting the results before
confirming the case as a bird flu death.
Two positive results are needed before
Indonesian authorities confirm a human infection of bird flu.
The Tempo newspaper quoted the girl’s father
as saying that officials conducted a check of poultry in their
neighborhood in Sawangan, southeast of Jakarta, and found some were
positive for the deadly virus.
Sumiarsih fell sick on Monday and was taken to a
private hospital two days later, before being referred to Sulianti
Saroso on Thursday.
Indonesia has the world’s highest number of
human bird flu victims, with 107 known fatal cases, 13 of them this
year.
Experts fear the virus, which is usually spread
directly from birds to humans, could mutate into a form easily
transmissible between people, sparking a deadly global pandemic.
-- AFP
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