6th member of Indonesian family dies of bird flu

6th member of Indonesian family dies of bird flu

A sixth member of an Indonesia family on North Sumatra died Monday of the H5N1 strain of bird flu, government health officials said.

Indonesian Health Ministry spokesman I Nyoman Kandun told reporters in the capital, Jakarta, that a 32-year-old man, identified only as D., died in the village of Kabanjahe after refusing to take antiviral drugs and fleeing a hospital in search of alternative treatment.

Kandun said preliminary testing had uncovered two other cases, one in Jakarta and another on East Java. The victim of the Jakarta infection died May 19, he said.

The H5N1 infections in all three cases still need to be confirmed by laboratory testing in Hong Kong for the World Health Organization, reports the AP.

I.L.