Jakarta (ANTARA News) - A nine-year-old boy and his father have been admitted to a hospital in Indonesia, suspected of having bird flu, a medic said Sunday.
Both were admitted to the Dr. Muwardi general hospital in the Central Java city of Solo on Saturday showing all the symptoms of infection, Reviono, who heads the hospital's bird flu unit, told AFP.
He said the pair had buried chickens that had died after being infected with H5N1, while several chickens in their neighbourhood had also tested positive for the disease.
Both have been put in the hospital's isolation ward and blood and tissue samples will be sent to the health ministry laboratory in Jakarta on Monday, he added.
Two positive results are needed before Indonesian authorities confirm a human bird flu infection.
Indonesia has the highest number of human bird flu casualties in the world, with 105 killed by the disease.
The father and son were referred from a hospital in nearby Klaten district where they live, Reviono said.
Experts fear the virus, which is usually spread directly from birds to humans, could mutate into a form easily transmissible between people, sparking a deadly global pandemic.
Eleven people have died of bird flu in Indonesia this year, 10 of them from Jakarta and its surrounding areas. (*)
COPYRIGHT © 2008 ANTARA
PubDate: 03/02/08 12:46
Source: http://www.antara.co.id/en/print/?i=1204436765 
