Think H5N1 has disappeared?

Housemaid latest avian flu fatality (1 hour ago)
Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

The Health Ministry's laboratory has confirmed a Tangerang domestic helper died from the bird flu virus Friday, bringing the country's death toll to 83.

The victim died at Tangerang's Sari Asih Hospital on Tuesday after two days of treatment for a high fever and acute pneumonia, a release made available for The Jakarta Post confirmed Saturday.

The maid's employers, Wahyu Proyato and Winda Amalia, who are residents of Perumnas II in Tangerang regency, said they had no idea how their maid contracted the virus because there were no fowl at their home or in the neighborhood.

Wahyu said his maid was treated at a clinic for a high fever and cough earlier this month. He said her condition improved after taking medication.

"Her condition improved after she took the medicine and she was able to babysit my child," he said.

Wahyu said his family and the housemaid did not have direct contact with live poultry and birds near the house.

"The only contact (with chickens) we had was on July 27 when my maid went with me to the market, just 200 meters from my home, to buy chicken meat," he said.

He said he had never purchased live chicken from the market.

The maid's body has been claimed by her family to be buried in Cilacap, Central Java.

Yuliah Iskandar, the regency health agency's head of communicable disease prevention, said a team had been assigned to investigate the source of the H5N1 virus in the neighborhood.

"There are no indications that bird flu has spread in the neighborhood, but we have taken blood samples from residents to be tested in a laboratory," she told the Post on Saturday.

Following the deaths of Iwan Siswara, an official at the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK), and his two young daughters early in July 2005, the central government declared Tangerang a bird flu red zone. Since then, the agency has recorded less than ten deaths in the regency, Yuliah said.

Meanwhile, Banten has recorded 14 human cases of bird flu, 12 of which were fatal.

On Jan. 19, Banten Governor Ratu Atut Chosiah issued a bylaw on poultry restrictions, which included a ban on keeping backyard fowl. The ordinance, however, has not yet taken effect due to prolonged protests from the Banten Council.

A similar ordinance was issued by the Jakarta administration following new outbreaks in the capital in January.

Initially a disease that affected poultry and birds, the H5N1 virus is now able to infect humans, but so far there is no evidence to suggest the disease can be transferred from human to human.