|
Indonesia: 16 under observation for bird flu
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-09-23 11:21
The number of Indonesians under observation for bird flu symptoms has risen
to 16, the Health Ministry said on Friday, but added that tests confirmed a
five-year-old girl who died this week did not have the virus.
Four Indonesians are confirmed to have died from the highly pathogenic
H5N1 strain of bird flu since July, fueling fears the disease was spreading.
I. Nyoman Kandun, head of disease control, said the 16 patients were in a
Jakarta hospital designated to treat people with bird flu symptoms, up from 11
the government had announced on Thursday. One of those has been confirmed to
have the virus.
Kandun said that tests carried out in the country on a five-year-old girl who
died this week were negative for bird flu. Indonesia was not planning to send
her blood samples to a laboratory in Hong Kong for confirmation, he told
Reuters.
No results have yet been announced for another girl, aged two, who died in
Jakarta this week with symptoms of bird flu.
The virus has killed a total of 64 people in four Asian countries since late
2003 and has been found in birds in Russia and Europe.
U.N. health experts said on Thursday the growing number of possible cases in
Indonesia did not mean the outbreak was worsening and that there was still no
sign the virus could be passed easily among people.
|
