Bird flu, Indonesian President asks for international help

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Main Category: Bird Flu / Avian Flu
Also Included In: Flu / Cold / SARS
Article Date: 19 Nov 2005 - 15:00 PDT

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As Indonesian authorities confirm that two human deaths last week were the result of bird flu infection (H5N1), the President asked the international community to help finance the fight against the spread of the virus.

Laboratory tests carried out in Hong Kong confirmed that the two Indonesian females, aged 20 and 16, were positive for bird flu. An Indonesian Health Ministry spokesman said he was sure they were infected as a result of being in contact with sick chickens (not human-to-human infection).

So far, 11 people have been infected in Indonesia, of which 7 have died.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said "The tsunami attacked for only several minutes, but it went away immediately and the death toll stopped." He went on to say that a flu pandemic would come, it would stay, and it would spread. He said the impact on our economies would be catastrophic.

Indonesia has a serious problem in trying to combat the spread of bird flu. Most of its poultry stocks are not in commercial farms where they can be isolated, rather they are found in people's backyards - poultry farmers in Indonesia have a lot of physical contact with their birds. China has the same problem.

Written by: Christian Nordqvist
Editor: Medical News Today
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

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