Indonesian Ministry of Health officials have confirmed that a 20-year-old male, from Bandung, West Java, is infected with the H5N1 bird flu virus strain. He is the country’s 68th case of human infection.
The man became ill with fever and cough on September 17th, went to hospital on September 24th, where he remains. His brother, 23, became ill on September 16th and died two hours after being admitted to hospital on September 24th. As no samples were collected for the brother, H5N1 infection is suspected, but not confirmed.
Both men had had contact with dead chickens – they fed carcasses to their dogs. H5 infection has also been identified among birds in their household.
A sister of these two men, 15, was hospitalized on September 25th. She is in a stable condition. Tests on her samples have come back negative for H5 virus subtype, but positive for the H1 subtype (normal seasonal influenza).
Of the 68 confirmed human cases in the country, 51 have died.
Written by: Christian Nordqvist
Editor: Medical News Today