Plagues,
Pestilences and Diseases
Bird flu kills two in Indonesia: hospital
by Staff Writers
Denpasar, Indonesia (AFP) Oct 10, 2011
Two children have died of bird flu in Indonesia, the first deaths
there from the virus in several months, hospital staff said
Monday.
A 10-year-old boy and his five-year-old sister died at the Sanglah
hospital on the resort island of Bali on Sunday, said Dr Ken
Wirasandhi, a member of the hospital's bird flu unit.
"The patients' conditions drastically deteriorated" after they
were admitted on Friday with high fever and tested positive for
the H5N1 virus, he said.
"They came to us in a state of shock and despite our best efforts,
they couldn't be saved," he added.
Officials say they are still investigating whether the siblings
had come into direct contact with birds.
Indonesia is the country hardest hit by the virus. According to
the World Health Organization website, as of March, H5N1 had
killed 144 people in Indonesia since 2003.
The virus typically spreads from birds to humans through direct
contact, but experts fear it could mutate into a form easily
transmissible between humans, with the potential to kill millions
in a pandemic.