Indonesia has confirmed its 38th death from bird flu after tests by a
WHO-accredited laboratory found that a seven-year-old girl who died this month
was infected.
The death keeps Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous nation, on track
to overtake Vietnam as reporting the world's highest number of deaths from the
H5N1 virus since 2003.
"It came back positive," I Nyoman Kandun, director of the health ministry's
communicable disease control center, told AFP.
"We have checked everybody who had contact with her and they are negative,"
he said Thursday.
The girl, who was earlier identified as Yohana, came from the Pamulang area
southwest of the capital and died June 1 after treatment in a Jakarta hospital.
Kandun said initial tests carried out by the World Health Organisation in
Hong Kong had returned negative but another sample was sent again for
re-testing.
The girl's 10-year-old brother, who died two days earlier, was buried before
samples could be taken from him for testing.
Indonesia now has the second highest number of victims after Vietnam, which
has reported 42 deaths -- none of which occurred this year -- and the highest
number this year.
More than 120 people have died of bird flu around the world since late 2003,
the vast majority of them in Asia.
Vice President Yusuf Kalla told foreign correspondents separately and before
the latest death was announced that bird flu was a global issue.
"Our efforts are based on standard operating procedure. The international
community has decided to make universal efforts and we have asked for
assistance," he said.
"There are problems, especially in the remote areas, but we are working very
hard to solve the problems."
He did not elaborate on Indonesia's strategy, which has been criticised among
some health workers here for being too ad hoc and sluggish.
The World Bank too warned this week that it was concerned about an estimated
800-million-dollar funding shortfall for its strategy to prevent a pandemic of
the virus.
"It (the strategy) is one area where we are least happy. The problem is
implementation and financing," bank economist William Wallace told a press
briefing on Monday.
"There should be better planning and better financing," he said, adding that
while Jakarta had outlined an effective plan, it had been slow to implement it
and it remained unclear just how it would be financed.
Indonesia's economy minister Budiono said Wednesday at the conclusion of
talks with the nation's major foreign donors that a special meeting between them
and the government on bird flu was slated for the coming
weeks.