AVIAN INFLUENZA, HUMAN (142) - INDONESIA (SOUTH SULAWESI)
09-SEP-2006

The South Sulawesi governor and the family of the latest confirmed bird flu victim expressed regret Friday that the Health Ministry did not immediately disclose the cause of the 14-year-old's death.

Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari said Thursday the government had confirmed the girl, who passed away almost 3 months ago, was the 48th fatality from the virus.

"Why was the announcement made almost 3 months later? If we had known earlier, we could have taken the necessary steps immediately," Governor Amin Syam said in Makassar on Friday.

The victim's brother said his family had been shocked to learn the girl died of bird flu. "It has really shaken us, to hear such news just as we were coming to terms with her death."

He said the family knew that bird flu in humans caused symptoms like the girl's, including a high fever, chest pains and shortness of breath. However, her doctor had diagnosed dengue fever. "But our suspicion caused us to free all our chickens and pet birds and destroy the coop and cages immediately after her funeral."

The victim was the 48th person to have died of bird flu in the country, but it was the first case to occur in South Sulawesi.

Laboratory tests conducted by the Health Ministry on fluid samples taken from the victim concluded she died of the H5N1 bird flu virus strain. The samples were sent by the provincial health office to Jakarta on 23 Jun 2006, the day before the girl died. However, the test results were only announced Thursday.

Runizar Roesin from the National Bird Flu Center said the delay between the discovery of the case and the announcement of the test results was because the samples were not specifically taken from the patient on suspicion of bird flu.

Siti said they would soon carry out poultry culls in the area where the case was found.

The girl's mother and elder sister, both of whom exhibited bird flu symptoms, died before her. After her death, her father, 2 other siblings, an in-law and a cousin were in turns taken to the hospital with high fevers, but soon recovered.

Alidin said the family had suspected the 3 died of bird flu but could not confirm the matter since they were all diagnosed as suffering from dengue fever.

The head of the South Sulawesi Health Office, Andi Muhadir, said it was unwise to make assumptions but blood samples would be taken from the victim's 11 family members and her closest neighbors.

The governor has called on related offices to apply standard procedures in dealing with bird flu and asked residents to hand over their poultry to be destroyed. "I hope people are willing to give up their poultry to be destroyed so there will be no more cases of bird flu in humans," he said.

[Byline Andi Hajramurni]

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