Jul 9, 2007 (CIDRAP News) – Indonesia's health ministry announced today that a 6-year-old boy from Banten province died of H5N1 avian influenza yesterday, according to several media reports.
Runizar Ruesin, an official with the health ministry's avian flu information center, said the boy died in a Jakarta hospital, the Associated Press (AP) reported today. He fell ill on Jul 1 and was hospitalized 4 days later, Ruesin said.
If the World Health Organization (WHO) confirms the case, the boy will be listed as Indonesia's 102nd H5N1 case-patient and 81st fatality.
The boy was a primary school student from Cilegon, an industrial town about 50 miles west of Jakarta, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported today. A man identified as Ningrum, from the avian flu information center, told AFP it was unclear if the boy had contact with dead or infected poultry.
Indonesia has the world's highest toll of H5N1 cases and deaths, followed by Vietnam and Egypt. The WHO's global total currently stands at 317 cases and 191 deaths.
