Woman's death raises Indonesian H5N1 toll to 90

Nov 5, 2007 (CIDRAP News) – A 30-year-old Indonesian woman died of H5N1 avian influenza on Nov 3, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported today.

The woman was from the same city as Indonesia's three previous H5N1 case-patients—Tangerang in Banten province, just west of Jakarta. Her death raises the number of WHO-confirmed H5N1 cases in Indonesia to 112 and the death toll to 90.

Some chickens belonging to a neighbor of the woman had died recently, but it wasn't clear whether she had had contact with them, Suharda Ningrum of the Indonesian health ministry's avian flu center told Reuters today.

The woman became ill on Oct 23 and was first hospitalized 8 days later, according to the WHO. She was transferred to an avian flu referral center, where she died 3 days later. Ningrum said two tests confirmed the woman had the H5N1 virus.

According to the WHO, the global H5N1 count now stands at 334 cases and 205 deaths. Indonesia leads the world in cases and deaths.

See also:

Nov 5 WHO statement

WHO H5N1 case count