Indonesia reports 7th bird flu death this year

JAKARTA. May 2. KAZINFORM  A two-year-old Indonesian boy has died on avian influenza in Riau province of Sumatra island, bringing the total casualty to seven this year, senior official at the health ministry said here on Wednesday.

The boy died on April 27 after being treated in two hospitals and a health clinic for one week in the province, Rita Kusriastuti director of vector borne disease control of the ministry said, Xinhua reports.

Two laboratory tests confirmed that the boy had H5N1 viruses, putting the total death to 157 out of 189 cases since the viruses first attacked the country in 2005, she told Xinhua.

The boy first felt the symptoms on April 20 by suffering fever before he went to a health clinic and being treated in hospitals, the director said.

An investigation indicated that the boy likely had contacted with quail as his father was the trader of quail eggs, she said.

Bird flu had attacked Indonesia, the hardest, since 2005, and then the attacks were eased significantly. But, it has reemerged again since last year, by killing nine people in 2011.

Concerns on the bird flu attacks appear in the region following the reports of the death on the viruses in Indonesia, Cambodia, China and Vietnam.

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