Indonesia facing bird flu epidemic

JAKARTA – Indonesia’s health minister yesterday warned the country was facing a bird flu epidemic as two more possible victims died after showing signs of infection.

With four Indonesian deaths already confirmed in two months and mounting international concern that bird flu could mutate into a major killer of humans, Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari warned of more infections ahead. “This can be classified as an epidemic and most definitely there will be others as long as we are unable to positively identify the sources,” Supari told reporters.A strain of bird flu known as H5N1 has killed 63 people in south-east Asia since 2003, the majority of them in Vietnam.Health experts say a major and quick-spreading pandemic internationally could kill millions.The World Health Organisation’s biggest fear is that H5N1 may mutate, acquiring genes from the human influenza virus that would make it highly infectious as well as lethal.”It’s obvious that a pandemic will occur, all the conditions are in place,” WHO director general Lee Jong-Wook said on Monday.”The problem now is time.”A team of US officials are in Indonesia to see how they can help Indonesia’s efforts to curb bird flu, US embassy spokesman Max Kwak said.- Nampa-AP”This can be classified as an epidemic and most definitely there will be others as long as we are unable to positively identify the sources,” Supari told reporters.A strain of bird flu known as H5N1 has killed 63 people in south-east Asia since 2003, the majority of them in Vietnam.Health experts say a major and quick-spreading pandemic internationally could kill millions.The World Health Organisation’s biggest fear is that H5N1 may mutate, acquiring genes from the human influenza virus that would make it highly infectious as well as lethal.”It’s obvious that a pandemic will occur, all the conditions are in place,” WHO director general Lee Jong-Wook said on Monday.”The problem now is time.”A team of US officials are in Indonesia to see how they can help Indonesia’s efforts to curb bird flu, US embassy spokesman Max Kwak said.- Nampa-AP