Avian Influenza Update

Three people have died, and 13 have been admitted to hospital with symptoms of bird flu in Indonesia, a nurse treating the patients said Wednesday [6 Aug 2008]. Officials and residents in Asahan district of North Sumatra province said villagers began showing symptoms of avian flu after a large number of chickens died suddenly last week. The nurse at Asahan district's Kisaran hospital said 3 people had died after suffering bird flu-like symptoms in Air Batu village. "According to residents there, a number of chickens died suddenly last week followed by several pigeons. Days later, 3 people died with
the same ailments," the nurse, told AFP.

Another 13 people had been admitted to the hospital with "high temperatures and respiratory problems," she said. Two of these -- a baby boy and a 7-year-old girl -- were transferred early Wednesday [6 Aug 2008] to a bird flu isolation unit at Adam Malik hospital in the provincial capital of Medan, officials said. Adam Malik hospital spokesman Sinar Ginting confirmed that blood samples from the 2 children were sent Wednesday [6 Aug 2008] to a health ministry laboratory in Jakarta for analysis. "We are now waiting for the result," he said.
The father of the baby boy said a lot of poultry had died in the village a week ago. His baby developed a high fever and respiratory problems shortly afterward. A spokeswoman for the health ministry could not be reached for comment. The ministry, which has stopped giving regular bird flu updates, announced earlier this week that the human toll from avian influenza in Indonesia had risen to 112 with the recent death of a 19-year-old man [The WHO Table of the Cumulative number of Confirmed human Cases of Avian Influenza A/(H5N1), which has not been updated since 19 Jun 2008, records the number of deaths in Indonesia as 110. - Mod.CP]. The man was from a town adjoining the capital Jakarta on Java Island.

Source: Canada.com, Agence France Presse (AFP) report [edited] through ProMED-mail