Malaysia Veterinary Forum (Archive)

Dr. TanDY

Two more bird flu deaths in Indonesia

Date: 2 June 2006

Indonesian health officials have confirmed the deaths of a seven-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy who died this week from bird flu.

The girl came from an area southwest of Jakarta and died last week. The teenage boy was from the West Java capital of Bandung.

Officials say the girl's 10-year-old brother also died this week, but was buried before samples could be taken from him for testing.

The source of the infection is now being investigated.

The World Health Organization has confirmed 36 human bird flu deaths in Indonesia, making it the world's second-highest number after Vietnam, and the highest number of deaths this year globally.

Meanwhile, police in Malaysia have been enlisted to help prevent birds and eggs from Indonesia from being brought into the country.

Coastal Malaysian states have also been placed on alert following the deaths of seven members of one family from bird flu in Northern Sumatra in Indonesia, which faces onto peninsular Malaysia.

"We cannot allow the birds into the country. There could be serious implications and great danger that a similar outbreak could occur here," said Mustapa Jalil, an official with Malaysia's veterinary services.

He said all the states on peninsular Malaysia's west coast, which lies nearest to Sumatra, as well as Sabah and Sarawak on Borneo island, have been put on high alert to watch out for infected birds.

"Strict instructions have been issued that all birds from the country would be seized and destroyed immediately," he said, adding that anyone caught defying the order faced imprisonment.

Malaysia reported a series of bird flu outbreaks beginning in February when it appeared in free-range chickens in villages near Kuala Lumpur, triggering the slaughter of thousands of chickens.

Since then, the country has suffered five other outbreaks of the virus among poultry in the northern states of Perak and Penan, but there have been no human victims.