Indonesian girl dies on bird flu

A 15 year-old Indonesian girl, who died on Tuesday in Central Java, was positively infected by avian influenza, putting the death toll to 79 out of 99 cases, Health Ministry said on Friday.

The girl had historical contacts with fowls as scores of her chickens died recently in her house and neighbor's, said an official of the anti-bird flu center of the ministry named only Tondro.

"Laboratory tests showed positive of bird flu today," he told Xinhua.

The girl from Kendal regency started to sick on May 21 then she went to a local hospital before transferring to Karyadi hospital at Semarang the capital of the province on May 25, said Tondro. She died in the hospital, he added.

"She cooked an ill-chicken," Tondro explained.

Official had also taken sample of specimen of her family for examination of bird flu, he said.

Indonesia has agreed to resume sharing its virus sample to the World Health Organization for the scientific purpose after halted it in December last year.

Experts fear millions of people could be killed should the virus mutate to a certain level that is transmittable among humans.

The disease has killed at least 187 people worldwide since it began ravaging Asian poultry stocks in 2003. Among the dead, 79 were in Indonesia, making it the worst hit country.

Source: Xinhua