(09/07/2007)
JAKARTA - The number of bird flu cases in Indonesia has risen to 106 with the positive identification of another sufferer in Hangtuah village, Kampar district, Riau province, the Health Ministry said.

Meanwhile, the number of Indonesian people who have died after being infected with the H5NI virus is now 84 meaning that the fatality case rate stands at 79.2 percent, the ministry`s public communication center said in a statement issued here Thursday.

The infected resident of Hangtuah village, identified by the initials GS (33), is the fourth confirmed bird flu patient in Riau province. Two of them have died.

GS, a plantation worker, began to suffer high body temperatures, cough, cold and breathing difficulty on August 25 and was admitted to a local hospital on August 28 and later to two other hospitals in Pekanbaru.

Living in a bird flu endemic region, AG is known to have slaughtered a chicken before he fell ill. He is now still being treated at Arifin Ahmad Hospital in Pekanbaru.

The bird flu virus in Indonesia is until now still exclusively transmitted through animals, the ministry`s statement said.(ant/PAB)