Indonesian woman dies of H5N1

A 24-yeard-old Indonesian woman has died of bird flu in Bengkulu of Sumatra island, putting the total death to five this year after nine people die of the infection last year, a Health Ministry official said here on Wednesday. The death comes as concerns about the attacks of the avian influenza viruses appear in the region following the reports of the death on the viruses in Indonesia, Cambodia, China and Vietnam. The woman died on March 1 after being treated for four days in a hospital, Rita Kusritiastuti, director of animal-born infectious disease of the ministry told Xinhua. She first felt the symptoms of the disease such as respiratory problem and high fever just before she was hospitalized, said Kusriastuti. "The woman died on March 1 after her condition deteriorated," she said. Two laboratory tests showed that the woman was positive of avian influenza, said Kusritiastuti. Nevertheless, the cause of the fatality was unclear as the woman had no historical contact with animal in the last one month, the director said. "In medical term the case like this is classified as unknown cause of the death," she said. Contact with poultry, particularly chicken, is the common cause of fatality in Indonesia. The latest death puts the total fatality of bird flu since the virus attacked the country in 2005 to 155 out of 187 cases. Indonesia had been hit the hardest by H5N1 several years after the virus attacked the country seven years ago, but then the attacks had been slowed and have started to reoccur since last year.