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| Sunday, 6 November 2005 |
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Suspected human case of bird flu JAKARTA, Nov 5 (AFP) Indonesian doctors said Saturday they were treating the latest suspected human case of bird flu in a nurse who showed the same symptoms as a patient who died of an unconfirmed infection of the virus. "Ina Solati's nurse at the Insani hospital was admitted close to midnight on November 3. She was suffering from high fever and coughing," said Suliati Saroso hospital spokesman Ilham Patu. Solati, 19, died in hospital in nearby Tanggerang on October 28 of suspected bird flu. Tests are currently being conducted at World Health Organisation facilities in Hong Kong to determine if she was carrying the virus, Patu said. At least four people have died of avian influenza in Indonesia and three others have been confirmed as infected but have either recovered or are still being treated. Solati's daughter and two nephews were also admitted to Sulianti Saroso hospital on Tuesday showing the same symptoms. But Saroso said that the condition of the three young children - aged between five months and eight years - have since improved although he declined to give details on their health's conditions. He said that tests on blood and throat swaps taken from the three children have showed negative results and that they appeared not to have contracted the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of avian influenza. "But we cannot yet say whether they are infected or not until the results of the tests in Hong Kong," Patu said, adding that for the first time samples from the patients had been sent simultaneously to the health ministry's research laboratory and to the WHO testing facilities in Hong Kong. More than 60 people have died of the virus in Asia since 2003. Experts fear it could mutate and kill millions globally. Some seven million birds have been culled in Indonesia as a precaution against the virus' spread, but the UN Food and Agriculture Organization has expressed concern at a lack of awareness in rural communities about the threat posed by the virus. The government said last week it was monitoring bird flu using mobile surveillance units and was enlisting between 500 and 1,000 veterinary students from several state universities to look for sick chickens in poultry farms. |
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