Indonesia says bird flu found in boy
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-10-09 17:22

A 4-year-old boy has tested positive for bird flu in Indonesia, a case which if confirmed would be the sixth in the world's fourth-most populous country, the health ministry said on Sunday.

The boy from Lampung province on Sumatra was found to be infected with the deadly H5N1 strain of avian influenza, Director General of Disease Control and Environmental Health I Nyoman Kandun told Reuters.

"Later we will confirm the result in Hong Kong. If the test result there is also positive, he will be added to the list (of confirmed cases)," Kandun said.

The boy was in hospital at Lampung. "He's well, only having a cough," Kandun said.

Four Indonesians are already known to have died since July from the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain, which has killed 64 people in four Asian countries since late 2003 and has been found in birds in Russia and Europe.

Six other patients remain in a government-designated hospital in Jakarta suspected of having avian flu.

The World Health Organization warned last month that bird flu was moving toward a form that could be passed between humans and the world had no time to waste to prevent a pandemic.

Indonesia's health minister has said the country could face a bird flu epidemic if the number of suspected cases of the virus continued to mount.

The government has put in place emergency measures to stem the virus, including mandatory hospitalization of anyone with suspicious symptoms.