Ten under bird flu watch in Indonesia hospital
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-09-22 11:52

Indonesian doctors are observing 10 patients with bird flu-like symptoms, a senior health official said on Thursday, amid fears a deadly avian influenza outbreak is spreading, Reuters reported.

Four Indonesians are already confirmed to have died since July from the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of bird flu, which has killed 64 people in four Asian countries since late 2003 and has been found in birds in Russia and Europe.

"We are observing 11 cases, including the one that died yesterday," said I Nyoman Kandun, the head of disease control at Indonesia's health ministry, referring to a girl who died on Wednesday at Jakarta's infectious diseases hospital.

Initial testing showed the girl did not die of bird flu, but further blood samples have been sent to a Hong Kong laboratory.

Indonesian officials from the agriculture ministry spray disinfectant in a bird market in central Jakarta September 21, 2005 after an outbreak of bird flu cases in the capital.[Reuters]

Kandun told Reuters that tests so far showed there was only one patient out of those being observed who was positive for the H5N1 virus. That patient is related to a Jakarta woman who died of bird flu almost two weeks ago.

The U.N. World Health Organization last week warned bird flu was moving toward a form that could be passed between humans and the world had no time to waste to prevent a pandemic.

Georg Petersen, the WHO representative in Jakarta, said on Wednesday many foreign experts were helping Indonesia, including a high-level delegation from the United States.

The WHO was also working with the government to source new stocks of the anti-viral drug Tamiflu to bolster local stocks.

Tamiflu is an anti-viral tablet that can help against infection. Several companies are working on a vaccine, but tests are not expected to begin until later this year.

The government has appealed for public calm over the virus, which has dominated local media reports in recent days.

On Monday, the government imposed a state of high alert, which gives authorities the power to order people showing symptoms of the virus to be hospitalized.

Besides Indonesia, bird flu has killed 44 people in Vietnam, 12 people in Thailand and four in Cambodia.