Local tests show West Java girl died of bird flu

JAKARTA, May 25 (Reuters) Local tests have confirmed an Indonesian child from the city of Bandung died of bird flu, a senior health ministry official said today.

Local results on bird flu cases are not considered definitive and need confirmation from the World Health Organisation.

I Nyoman Kandun, director-general of communicable disease control, told Reuters local tests have found one of two siblings admitted to hospital earlier this week in the West Java capital of Bandung was a positive H5N1 case.

''The younger one is positive. We are looking into the other one,'' he said.

The younger sibling, a 10-year old girl, died on Tuesday.

World attention is now focused on another Indonesian family after the WHO confirmed seven members from Kubu Simbelang village in North Sumatra province were infected with the H5N1 avian influenza virus.

It is the largest known bird flu cluster since the disease re-appeared in Asia in 2003 and the WHO says limited human-to-human contact between family members might have occurred.

International and local health officials say there is no evidence the virus had mutated in the Kubu Simbelang cluster case. But the case has baffled experts because no definitive source of infection has been found.

H5N1 remains difficult for humans to catch, but experts fear it could evolve into a form passes easily from human to human, causing a pandemic that could kill millions.

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