05.12.2005

Indonesia

An eight-month-old baby is the latest patient to test positive for avian influenza in Indonesia.
Doctors believe the baby may have caught the disease from an infected pigeon.
A spokesman at the Sulianti Soroso hospital in Jakarta says preliminary tests, yet to be confirmed by the World Health Organisation in Hong Kong, show that the child is suffering from the deadly H5N1 strain of avian influenza.
Our correspondent in Indonesia, Peter Cave, says the infant was put into an isolation ward at the designated avian influenza centre on Sunday, five days after contracting a high fever at his home in North Jakarta.
Six other patients are undergoing tests at the hospital.
While the official death toll from avian influenza in Indonesia stands at eight, some experts believe that because of poor surveillance and reporting the number has been underestimated.