[Kabar-indonesia] Two New Suspected Bird Flu Clusters - Indoesian Doctor

[JoyoNews at aol.com]

also: 2 Sumatra siblings, 7 neighbors may have bird flu

Indonesia: Two New Suspected Bird Flu Clusters - Doctor

MEDAN, Indonesia, Aug. 2 (AP)--Seven Indonesians from the 
same village on Sumatra were being treated for bird flu symptoms 
Wednesday, in what doctors and officials fear could be two new 
clusters of the virus.

The patients, at least three of them children, are believed to have
been infected by chickens.

Blood tests must still confirm they are infected with the virulent 
H5N1 virus. -end-

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2 Sumatra siblings, 7 neighbors may have bird flu

Aug. 2 (Kyodo) --Two siblings and their seven neighbors in a regency in 
Indonesia's North Sumatra Province are suspected of being infected with bird flu 
and are receiving treatment at hospitals, health officials said Wednesday. 

An official at the Jakarta-based Bird Flu Coordinating Post told Kyodo News 
the siblings, aged 6 and 10, and their 18-month-old neighbor from the village 
of Sumbul in Karo Regency have been treated at the Adam Malik General Hospital 
in the provincial capital Medan since Tuesday. 

"Six other neighbors aged between 10 and 32 are being treated at the 
Kabanjahe General Hospital in Karo," the official said, adding a team from the Health 
Ministry has been dispatched to the village. 

"Preliminary indications show they are suspected of being infected with the 
H5N1 virus and their samples are being examined," she added. 

The daily Kompas quoted Sumbul Sembiring, chief of the bird flu management 
team in the regency, as saying that before the new suspected cases were found 19 
chickens had been found dead, probably because of bird flu. 

In Karo, seven people from one family contracted the H5N1 strain of bird flu 
earlier this year. The seven family members -- six of them died -- were 
confirmed having contracted the virus in April and May. Another family member also 
died, but she was only suspected of being infected with the disease. 
 
In June, the World Health Organization confirmed that human-to-human 
transmission of bird flu had occurred in the regency. 

According to the WHO, the number of human bird flu cases in Indonesia is 54, 
including 42 deaths. The Health Ministry insists that human cases total 56, 
including 43 deaths. 

The disease has killed at least 134 people around the world since December 
2003, according to the WHO. 

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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