Bird flu deaths in Indonesia have reached 16, as two people were confirmed by the world Health Organization on Saturday, an official of Indonesian Health ministry said.

A director at the health ministry Haryadi Wibisonon told Xinhua by telephone that a World Health Organization-sanctioned laboratory in Hong Kong has confirmed a 22-year-old man, Yasinda, and a 15-year-old man, Yedi, died of bird flu.

They died one week ago, he added.

He said the test of blood of Humariah, a 5-year-old girl, and Herdiyansa, a 5-year-old boy, also showed positive. but they are still alive. So the number of bird flu cases in the country has reached 23.

Bird flu began ravaging poultry stocks across Asia in 2003 -- killing or forcing the slaughter of an estimated 140 million birds. It also jumped to humans, killing at least 85 people in Asia and Turkey.

Almost all the deaths have been linked to contact with infected poultry, but experts fear the virus could mutate into a form that spreads easily among humans, sparking a pandemic that could kill millions.

In Indonesia, 25 of 33 provinces have found bird flu cases and about 9 million infected poultry had been killed.

Source: Xinhua