Jakarta - An Indonesian man who died last week in Jakarta tested positive for bird flu, bringing the country's death toll from the H5N1 avian influenza virus to 86, Health Ministry officials said Monday. The 21-year-old man from west Jakarta, identified only as AR, died Friday after being treated in hospital for three days, said Joko Suyanto, an official at the ministry's bird-flu centre.
"Test results confirm he had been suffering from bird flu," Joko said, adding that a team of investigators were still trying to find out where the man was exposed to the virus.
Indonesia has now recorded 107 human cases of bird flu and 86 deaths, both the highest toll and fatality rate in the world. Before Indonesia's latest death, at least 200 people had died in 11 countries in Asia and Africa of the disease, according to World Health Organization statistics.
Most human cases of H5N1 are linked to contact with infected birds, but experts fear the virus would mutate into a form that spreads easily among humans, potentially sparking a pandemic that could kill millions of people.
