Indonesia’s 48th victim
September 11th, 2006
A 14-year old girl living in Indonesia’s South Sulawesi province has been recorded as the country’s 48th avian influenza fatality. The girl died in June, but was only recently tested positive for bird flu. The country’s Health Minister, Siti Padila Supari, held a news conference in Jakarta to make the announcement. She also said the the girl had previously had contact with fowls, as many chickens were found around the girl’s home. It is most probably that this is the source of infection. Indonesia’s death toll of 48 is now the highest in the world, easily surpassing Vietnam’s, a country that has, however been free of human cases of avian influenza for months.