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Latest Death Shows Bird Flu is Out of Control in Indonesia
January 30, 2008 at 5:25 PM
Bird Flu News
Indonesia's health ministry on Monday confirmed the death of Virda Sari, a 23-year-old woman from eastern Jakarta who died in hospital early Sunday morning.
Her death brought Indonesia's death toll to the symbolic milestone, highlighting the deadly nature of a virus that has infected a confirmed 124 people in the country, according to the ministry.
More than half of all bird flu deaths worldwide since 2005 have occurred in Indonesia, World Health Organisation figures show. More than twice as many Indonesians have died of the disease than in Vietnam, which with 48 deaths is the second most affected country.
"The virus is uncontrollable in Indonesia ... it means that viral contamination of the environment is quite high," said Ngurah Mahardika, a virologist at Udayana University on the resort island of Bali, which recorded its first two human deaths from the disease last year.
"The reason is that the virus is not under control in animals right now," he said.
The H5N1 virus is mostly spread to humans through contact with infected poultry, but scientists fear it could mutate into a form easily transmittable between humans. The resulting pandemic could kill millions.
Avian influenza has been particularly prevalent in areas surrounding Jakarta, Mahardika said, with the satellite city of Tangerang in neighbouring Banten province of particular concern with its large population living close to poultry.
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