Indonesia Confirms 76th Fatality

 

# 766

 

 

The suspected case I reported on Saturday night has now been confirmed, raising the number of fatalities this year in Indonesia to 19.  According to this article, 20 additional people are being treated in Indonesian hospitals for the virus.

 

 

Indonesia confirms 76th bird flu death
Posted: 14 May 2007 1545 hrs

JAKARTA - A pregnant Indonesian woman has died of bird flu, taking the country's death toll from the virus to 76, a health ministry official confirmed Monday.

 

"The results of the second test have come in and they are positive," said an official from the ministry's bird flu information centre.

 

The woman was suspected to have died from the virus on Saturday, but Indonesian officials were awaiting the results of a required second set of tests before confirming bird flu as the cause.

 

"She is now the 76th human bird flu death for Indonesia," said the official, identified as Joko.

 

The official said 20 other people were undergoing treatment for the virus in hospitals around Indonesia, the nation worst hit by the virus.

 

The woman, 26, who was four months pregnant with her second child, died at a hospital in Medan in North Sumatra, the official said.

It was not immediately clear whether she had been in close contact with infected poultry, the main cause of human bird flu infections in Indonesia.

 

She began to show symptoms of infection on May 2 and was treated first at home, then moved to two different hospitals before she died, officials said.

 

The government had hoped to eradicate bird flu deaths in 2007, but instead 19 people have now perished this year after contracting the virus.

(cont.)

 

The actual status of the 20 people being treated for the virus in Indonesia is unclear.   Have they tested positive?  Or are they simply suspected cases?  

 

A subtle but very important difference.

 

While we've heard very little officially from Indonesia in the past few months, the local media has reported a steady trickle of cases going into hospitals, and then rarely any follow up on the cases.   

 

The surprise here isn't that they have 20 suspected cases.  The surprise is they are publicly admitting it.

 

This sudden candor may be due, in part, to the negotiations this week in Geneva over virus samples and vaccines for developing countries. 

 

With 19 deaths, and 20 possible additional cases, the stakes have been raised.