(AP)
Updated: 2005-12-19 15:05

Local tests showed that an 8-year-old boy died of bird flu in Indonesia, officials said Monday, amid warnings that the sprawling archipelago could be a flashpoint for a human pandemic.

Health Ministry official Hariadi Wibisono said the World Health Organization had yet to confirm that the child, who died last week in the capital Jakarta, had the disease.

It was not immediately clear if the boy had come into contact with sick birds, he added, though veterinary officials said several birds in his densely populated neighborhood tested positive for the disease.

Bird flu has killed hundreds of millions of chickens and ducks since it started ravaging poultry stocks across Asia in 2003, and has jumped to humans, killing at least 71, most in Vietnam and Thailand.

But Indonesia's caseload is steadily rising.

A WHO-affiliated laboratory in Hong Kong has confirmed nine human deaths and is awaiting results for the boy and a 39-year-old man who also died last week.

David Nabarro, the U.N. coordinator for bird flu, said there was no sign of human-to-human transmission in Indonesia.

But with its high density of birds and humans, the Southeast Asian nation could later turn out to be the source of a pandemic, he and others warn, and steps need to be taken now to prepare.

Most human infections have been traced back to contact with sick birds, but health experts fear the current virus could mutate into a form that is easily spread among people.

"We are very worried it could happen (in Indonesia)," Nabarro said, as he wrapped up a two-day visit.

While the government has done several things right in recent weeks, coming up with a comprehensive plan to combat the disease, it is too early to say if it will succeed.

"The size and complexity of the country make challenges very, very large," he said.