Another Indonesian villager dies of bird flu-like symptoms

A 17-year old resident of Kalimandi village in Banjarnegara, in Indonesia's Central Java province, died of a disease suspected of bird flu Monday morning.

The results of tests conducted on Juwanto's blood had shown that there was reason to believe he was suffering from bird flu, Hartono, director of the local Margono Soekarjo Hospital said. Juwanto was previously a patient of Immanuel Hospital in Banjarnegara.

"We are now still waiting for the results of a test on samples of Juwanto's blood by the Health Ministry in Jakarta," Antara news agency quoted Hartono as saying.

He said Juwanto was immediately put in an isolation ward after being admitted to Margono Soekarjo Hospital on Sunday evening as he was in a very weak condition.

Juwanto was showing symptoms associated with bird flu such as high fever, breathing problems and coughing when he entered the hospital.

His parents meanwhile said that Juwanto started developing the symptoms on Wednesday after being treated at Immanuel Hospital for a week. "We did not believe that he had contracted bird flu. Initially, we thought he was only suffering from a lung infection, " they said.

Mistinem, 32, a resident of Kaliurip village, also in Banjarnegara district, died of bird flu last Oct. 13. She died after being treated for 12 hours at the Margono Soekarjo Hospital. She had been ill since Oct. 8.

Source: Xinhua