Bird flu cluster suspected in Indonesian village

A possible new bird flu cluster is being investigated in an Indonesian village following the death of a woman last week from the virus.

The 35-year-old Indonesian woman was from the West Javan village of Cikelet where a series of confirmed and suspected cases of bird flu in humans have occurred and her daughter died after showing signs of having the virus.

Indonesian officials say the woman died on Aug. 17 after being treated for symptoms of the H5N1 virus in the province's Dr. Slamet hospital.

Health Minister Siti Fadillah Supari has said they suspect there is possibly a cluster of infections as her 9-year-old daughter died last week, before her mother, of what was initially thought to be typhoid and as a result no specimens were taken for testing.

A five-year-old boy also from Cikelet was taken to hospital in West Java on Saturday, with the symptoms of bird flu, raising the official number of people suspected of having bird flu to 10 all from five hamlets in Cikelet and Cigadog villages, located some 130 kilometers south of Garut city.

Blood samples have been taken from 40 residents who had a history of contact with people confirmed as having bird flu and those suspected of having the disease.

Four other people from the village are reported to have died with symptoms of bird flu before tests could be done.

The latest death takes Indonesia's toll from the disease to 46, the highest of any country and officials are collecting samples from any others who may have been in contact with the family from the village where the H5N1 virus is said to be endemic in local poultry.

A team from the health ministry, local authorities and the World Health Organization are investigating but authorities believe the cases have been transmitted from infected poultry.

The situation is causing concern as a number of cases have occured in the general area and just last week officials appeared to be playing down the prospect of a cluster.

Experts have long feared that the virus could mutate into a form that could pass easily between humans and this fear was exacerbated in May when seven people from an extended family died of the disease in Northern Sumatra.

Scientists worry that the H5N1 virus could mutate into a strain that could spark a human pandemic.

The latest death in Indonesia is the second confirmed from bird flu in the area, made up of a number of remote hamlets about 90 km south of the provincial capital of West Java, Bandung.

A 14-year-old boy is said to be recovering at home after local tests confirmed he had the disease.

Two other children from the village who were thought to have bird flu, a six-year-old girl and an eight-year-old girl are also recovering but tests carried out have so far shown negative for the H5N1 virus.

Blood samples of a pregnant woman from the same village have also been sent for testing after she was admitted to hospital on Friday, she is said to be recovering.

Officials say the government is distributing the antiviral medicine Tamiflu but poor road access means the villages are hard to reach.

More than 4,000 birds have reportedly been culled in the area.

Indonesia has seen a steady increase in human bird flu deaths this year and the virus is endemic in poultry in nearly all of the provinces of the sprawling archipelago.

The country has been heavily criticised for not doing enough to stamp out H5N1, and has shown a reluctance to carry out the mass culling of poultry, citing the expense and the practical difficulties because of the millions of backyard poultry.

The H5N1 virus has to date killed around 140 people and millions of birds since 2003 and has spread from Asia to Europe and Africa.