Indonesia reports 100th human H5N1 case

Jun 15, 2007 (CIDRAP News) – Indonesia's toll of people struck by H5N1 avian influenza has risen to 100, including 80 deaths, with the report that a 26-year-old man from Sumatra died of the disease on Jun 12.

The Indonesian health ministry said the man from Riau province fell ill on Jun 3 and was hospitalized Jun 6, according to a World Health Organization (WHO) statement today. Investigators found he had been exposed to sick and dead poultry, the statement said.

The case pushed the WHO's global H5N1 count to 313 cases with 191 deaths. However, four cases reported recently by Vietnam have not yet been confirmed by the WHO.

An Agence France-Presse (AFP) report on the Sumatra man's case yesterday differed from the WHO statement in some details. The story, quoting a hospital official, listed his age as 29 and said he had been hospitalized Jun 11 after being sick for a week.

The hospital official, Azizman Daan, told AFP the man had slaughtered and cooked a sick chicken after 3 of his 5 chickens died.

Indonesia's first human H5N1 illness cases were reported in July 2005. The country only recently surpassed Vietnam for having the greatest number of cases. By the WHO count, Vietnam has had 93 cases and 42 deaths.

See also:

Jun 15 WHO statement
http://www.who.int/csr/don/2007_06_15/en/index.html

WHO's global H5N1 case count