| ■ Indonesia Reports Sixth Bird Flu Death This Year | 07.01.29 |
| Indonesian officials announced Thursday that a young girl has died of bird flu, making her the country's sixth victim of the H5N1 virus so far this year and the 63rd since 2005, Agence France Presse reported. The eight-year-old girl from central Java died on January 19. Laboratory tests confirmed she died of infection with the H5N1 strain. Indonesia has been hardest hit by a recent resurgence of bird flu that' s also seen outbreaks in Vietnam, Thailand, South Korea and Japan, AFP reported. Most of the human cases of bird flu in Indonesia were the result of close contact with infected poultry. Measures being taken by the Indonesian government to fight bird flu include a plan to eventually ban backyard poultry everywhere in the country. Experts fear that the H5N1 virus could mutate into a form that's easily transmitted between humans, resulting in a pandemic that could kill millions, AFP reported. ----- Yahoo! HealthDay |