Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
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Indonesia Announces Two Bird Flu Deaths; Japan Confirms Outbreak
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=15C6BC4:A6F02AD83191E1602680EAE000E190EC9574F7DCC14957C0 None of the
Indonesian victims known to have contact with each other An Indonesian
health official announced Saturday the recent deaths of two women from
Avian influenza. Two other people died earlier in the week. Meanwhile,
Japan confirmed bird flu affected chickens on a farm in the south of
the country. VOA's Sean Maroney reports from Washington.

Health officials in Indonesia say two more people have died from bird
flu there this week, raising the country's total number of deaths to
at least 61.

Both women had received treatment in the same hospital in Indonesia's
capital of Jakarta.

Earlier in the week, a 37-year-old woman and teenage boy died from
bird flu.

Although three of this week's victims were from the same village,
Indonesia's Ministry of Health has said none of them were known to
have had contact with each other.

Jakarta hospital spokesman Mukhtar Ikhsan says they are also treating
the son of the 37-year-old woman for the virus. He says, "This is a
confirmed bird flu infection, and at the moment his condition is
deteriorating."

Meanwhile, Japanese officials confirmed Saturday that bird flu caused
the deaths of more than two-thousand chickens at a farm 900 kilometers
southwest of Tokyo.

The officials have not determined whether this particular strain of
bird flu is the feared H5N1 or another less deadly form.

However, they announced the culling of the remaining 10,000 birds at
the farm as a precaution against the virus spreading.

Currently, bird flu remains difficult for humans to catch. But
international experts fear the virus could mutate into a form that
could spread easily among humans.


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