An Indonesian woman has died of bird flu, taking the country's
death toll from the disease to 90, an official at the health
ministry's bird flu centre said.
Suharda Ningrum said it was not yet clear whether the 30-year-old
victim had been in contact with sick fowl, but chickens belonging
to a neighbour had died suddenly.
The woman lived in Tangerang, west of the capital Jakarta.
Contact with sick fowl is the most common way for humans to
contract the H5N1 strain of the virus.
"Two tests were confirmed positive for bird flu. Her neighbour's
chickens died suddenly but it is unclear whether she had direct
contact with the dead fowl," said Ningrum, adding that the woman
had died in Jakarta's Persahabatan hospital.
Indonesia, which has now had 112 confirmed cases of the disease in
humans, has suffered more fatalities than any other country.
Bird flu is endemic in bird populations in most parts of Indonesia,
where millions of backyard chickens live in close proximity with
humans.
Including the latest case, there have been 205 deaths and 334 cases
globally since 2003, according to World Health Organisation
data.
Experts fear if an easy means of transmission from human to human
develops, there might be a pandemic affecting millions.
