Indonesian officials lowers human bird flu death toll to three

Indonesia's health minister lowered the country's number of confirmed human deaths from bird flu to three on Thursday, in line with figures from the World Health Organization.

There had been confusion surrounding Indonesia's toll from bird flu since its first death reported in July, in part because local laboratory tests were not always consistent. Until Thursday, Indonesia had reported six fatalities from the virus.

The H5N1 strain of bird flu has swept through poultry populations in many parts of Asia since 2003, jumping to humans and killing at least 62 people regionwide and resulting in the deaths of tens of millions of birds.

Most human cases have been linked to contact with sick birds.

Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari told reporters there was only one other confirmed case of bird flu, and that the patient was recovering, reports the AP.