The recent deaths of a pregnant mother and two children were not caused by bird flu as reported earlier, an Indonesian health official said Wednesday.

"Local tests showed they are negative of bird flu," said Hariadi Wibisono, director of animal-borne disease eradication with the Health Ministry.

But a three-year-old boy who died in the Central Java capital of Semarang was tested positive of bird flu by a local laboratory, he told Xinhua over telephone.

The death toll in confirmed bird flu cases in the country now stands at 21, he said.

Source: Xinhua