Tuesday, April 04, 2006
WHO confirms 24th Indonesian bird flu death
Indonesian authorities say an eight-year-old girl who died in July last year is the latest confirmed fatality from bird flu.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has now confirmed 24 people have died from the disease in Indonesia.
Indonesia’s Health Ministry says the long delay in confirming the girl’s death was caused by problems in obtaining adequate specimens to be sent overseas to be tested by WHO accredited laboratories.
The girl’s father and sister also died in July.
The father had tested positive for bird flu, but the sister had not been tested.
Some experts believe the lack of proper testing facilities in Indonesia is hampering the fight against the disease, which has claimed more victims in Indonesia than anywhere else this year.
Indonesia last week postponed signing a $10 million agreement with Australia to help fight bird flu because of the current diplomatic row over Papuan asylum seekers.