JAKARTA, 06 March 2006 - A pregnant woman died of suspected bird flu in the Indonesian capital Jakarta early today, doctors said. They were awaiting laboratory test results to confirm the cause of death. The 25-year-old patient was admitted to Sulianti Saroso Hospital last week with fever and respiratory problems – symptoms of the H5N1 virus that has killed 20 people in Indonesia, said Ilham Patu, a doctor at the hospital. She was five months pregnant. The baby also died.

Health officials were awaiting local and World Health Organisation laboratory results, but have classified the woman as a “suspected bird flu patient” even though she had no known contact with chickens or ducks, Patu said. The bird flu virus that has devastated poultry stocks across the region since 2003 has also jumped to humans, killing at least 93, most of them in Asia, according to WHO.

Experts fear the virus could mutate into a form that is easily transmitted from person to person and set off a flu pandemic that could kill millions of people worldwide.

  08 January 2009 · Papua earthquakes drive thousands into tent camps
  08 January 2009 · Central bank cuts rate by 50 basis point to 8.75%
  07 January 2009 · FPI holds warfare training and recruitment session for Gaza
  06 January 2009 · No embassy in Bandung, demonstration at German cultural institute
  06 January 2009 · One liter of petrol for 50.000 Rupiah in West Timor
  05 January 2009 · Two more aftershocks hit Manokwari
  04 January 2009 · Manokwari airport closed after quakes
  04 January 2009 · 7.8 magnitude quake hits near Manokwari, 25 aftershocks reported
  03 January 2009 · Indonesia to launch stimulus to boost economy
  02 January 2009 · President: 'Indonesia supports Palestinian people's struggle'