Another case of bird flu strikes Indonesia

Indonesian officials say a woman from Bandung has tested positive for bird flu and is being treated in hospital.

The 67-year-old woman who lives in the Cisarua area, had been in contact with dead chickens and is said to be seriously ill.

She was admitted to the Hasan Sadikin hospital in Bandung, southeast of the capital Jakarta, on October 7th and is being treated with the anti-viral drug Tamiflu and antibiotics.

So far, 52 Indonesians have died of bird flu, the highest of any country, with the majority of deaths occurring since the beginning of this year.

The health ministry laboratory tests were confirmed by tests done by a U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit based in Jakarta but as yet the national bird flu information center says they are inconclusive.

Doctors at the hospital say the woman has a high fever and breathing difficulties and has also been diagnosed with encephalitis; she is on a respirator.

The Indonesian government continues to resist the mass culling of birds, despite the rising human death toll, using the expense and impracticality as it's reasons.

As in other Asian countries many keep poultry in backyards which provide food and extra income for poor families and almost all cases of human bird flu have been through contact with infected birds.

According to the World Health Organization, worldwide, 148 people have died of bird flu since it re-emerged in 2003, almost one-third of them in Indonesia, to date the worst affected country.

Indonesia has been criticized for failing to aggressively deal with the virus in poultry stocks, either by mass slaughters or vaccination.