WHO confirms two Indonesian women of having bird flu

The World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed two Indonesian woman of having avian influenza, bringing total cases in the country to 25, and 18 of them have died, a hospital official said here Sunday.

Ilham Patu, a director at the Jakarta designed hospital for bird flu, Sulianti Suroso Hospital, told Xinhua over telephone that the two women in their 20s died on Feb. 9 and Feb. 10 respectively after being treated in the hospital.

"The result of the test from WHO laboratory in Hong Kong show that they were confirmed, the result were obtained last night," he said.

But it was not clear whether the two women had contacts with birds, he said.

The director added that the local test of another man of 23 years old died on Feb. 10 in Sulianti Suroso Hospital was positive and his blood sample would be sent to Hong Kong laboratory on Monday.

More than 80 people have been killed by the virus in Asia, and Indonesia is the second biggest after Vietnam in terms of the number of victims, said the WHO.

The virus reportedly has spread to Nigeria, Turkey and Iraq in recent weeks.

A huge population and territory have hampered efforts to eliminate the virus in Indonesia, Minister of Agriculture Anton Apriantono has said.

Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous country, has 220 million people and 17,000 islands.

Source: Xinhua