Indonesia Begins Slaughtering Poultry
INDONESIA - Officials began slaughtering poultry Thursday in an Indonesian village where preliminary tests showed a 15-year-old boy died from bird flu, as the country struggled with a sudden rise in deaths averaging one every 2 1/2 days.All chickens will be killed within a half mile of the boy's house in the Tasikmalaya district of West Java province, said Budi Utama, head of the local animal and fisheries agency.
Indonesian tests on Wednesday found that the boy had contracted the virulent H5N1 bird flu virus, and officials were awaiting confirmation from a World Health Organization-sanctioned laboratory in Hong Kong.
At least 36 people have died in Indonesia from bird flu, out of a world toll of 127, WHO says. The country averaged one human bird flu death every 2 1/2 days in May, putting it on pace to become the world's hardest-hit country, surpassing Vietnam's 42 deaths.
Source: PhillyBurbs
1 June 2006
1 minute read
