Bird flu death toll climbs to 75 in Indonesia

May 7 2007

Bird flu has claimed it's 75th victim in Indonesia with the death of a woman from the deadly virus on May 3rd.

The woman who was from Pekanbaru in Riau Province on Sumatra island was 29 years old; she was taken into hospital in Medan on May 1st suffering from fever and respiratory problems only to die two days later.

According to the health ministry two laboratory tests have confirmed the presence of the H5N1 virus but as yet the source of the infection is unknown.

Officials say there were no poultry in her neighbourhood in Pekanbaru and an intensive investigation is now underway.

Almost all cases of bird flu to date can been traced to contact with infected birds or poultry and the disease remains quite difficult to contract.

However the virus is endemic in poultry in most parts of Indonesia, where millions of people keep a chickens or other birds in their backyards.

The fear is that the virus will ultimately mutate into a form easily transmitted between humans triggering a pandemic against which there is little protection.

Worldwide Indonesia has the highest human death toll from the lethal virus and experts have been concerned for some time regarding the country's ability to deal with the virus.