The Jakarta Post has published a report on the 120th H5N1 case: More bird flu patients in Tangerang, Garut. But the interesting part of the story is about three children suspected of having bird flu. Excerpt:
In Garut, West Java, three people were admitted to Dr. Slamet Hospital suffering bird flu symptoms after midnight on Tuesday.
The three suspected patients are a six-month-old boy and his 13-year-old brother and their neighbor, a five-year-old boy. They are now being treated in an isolated room designated for bird flu patients, said hospital manager Wawan Sumiarsa.
"It's our prevention tactic ... their blood samples have been sent to Jakarta for laboratory tests," he told The Jakarta Post.
The three were rushed from the community health center in Peundeuy district -- about three-and-a-half hours' drive from the hospital -- following the sudden death of more than 1,000 birds in the neighborhood in the past week.
Reports said 829 chickens died in Toblong village, where the three lived, 420 chickens in Pangramasan and the remaining 60 in Purwajaya village.
Although the condition of the three children is improving, Wawan said that the doctors were still keeping them under intense observation.
Even with eight hundred chickens dying around them, the three little boys might have been infected with some other respiratory disease. If it really is H5N1, each might have fallen ill by individual contact with a sick chicken. But if it's H5N1, we might also have a possible human-to-human transmission.
