WHO rules out bird flu in four Indonesian nurses

GENEVA, June 6 (Reuters) The World Health Organisation today said that bird flu had been ruled out in the cases of four Indonesian nurses who fell sick after caring for people infected with H5N1 virus.

''Test results have now convincingly ruled out H5N1 infection in all four nurses,'' the United Nations' health agency said in a statement posted on its website (www.who.int) For four days, Indonesian health authorities and the WHO had monitored the influenza-like illnesses of the four, two of whom worked in Bandung, West Java and two in Medan, North Sumatra.

The two from Sumatra had been involved in caring for members of an extended family, seven of whom died last month in a case that raised fears that the virus was mutating and becoming better at infecting people.

But subsequent laboratory tests showed no significant change in the virus, a result that was further confirmed by the nurses' diagnosis, the WHO said.

''The negative test results for all four nurses provide reassuring evidence that the virus is not spreading efficiently or sustainably among humans at present,'' it said.

Bird flu has killed over 125 people worldwide since reappearing in 2003. It remains difficult to catch, but scientists fear it could evolve to pass more easily from person to person, triggering a pandemic in which millions may die.

Reuters DKS VV1755