It's official: Indonesian man dies of bird flu (updated twice)

Via The Jakarta Post, an AP report (not an Emmy Fitri report): Indonesian man dies of bird flu, official says. Excerpt:

An Indonesian factory worker has died of bird flu, bringing the death toll in the country worst hit by the virus to 112, a top health official said Sunday.

The 19-year-old died last week in a hospital just west of the capital, Jakarta, Nyoman Kandun, the director general of communicable disease control at the Health Ministry, said by text message. He gave no more information.

Indonesia has regularly recorded human deaths from bird flu since the virus began ravaging poultry stocks across Asia in 2003. Its toll of 112 accounts for nearly half the 240 recorded fatalities worldwide.

Update: I see that Bidang Komunikasi Komnas FBPI, an official Indonesia flu source, has links to a number of international reports to this story, but doesn't yet have anything of its own—whether in English or in Bahasa Indonesia. (By the way, ignore the link to the "5 quarantined in India" report—it's an echo story from months ago.)

None of the other usual Indonesian media have picked up the story yet, but it's all over the world—including this Xinhua report.

Update 2: Different news reports say the death total in Indonesia is 111 or 112. If you visit WHO's last update, dated June 19, you'll see 110 deaths from 135 confirmed cases.

The difference seems to depend on whether you count an earlier death, on July 10, reported in CurEvents Flu Clinic by Dutchie. While it was evidently confirmed locally, no public announcement in English appears to have been made. Perhaps the death of "AS" will be included in some future announcement by Dr. Supari.

The real number of Indonesian H5N1 deaths is likely much higher than 111 or 112, but we'll never know. The best we can is to try to keep track of the confirmed ones.

The case fatality ratio in confirmed cases remains at about 81%.