Another Bird Flu Death in Indonesia

The lack of progress in stamping out or keeping under control the bird flu situation in Indonesia has resulted in yet another death and this time of a 44 year old Indonesian man.

If confirmed by a World Health Organization approved laboratory, the man's death would bring the number of Indonesians killed by the H5N1 bird flu strain to at least 42, the same as Vietnam.

Apparently local tests showed he was infected with the H5N1 virus. The man died July 12 after being hospitalized for two days with a high fever, coughing and breathing difficulties.

The victim was from Jakarta's eastern outskirts and had come into contact with infected birds. Bird flu has killed at least 132 people worldwide since it started ravaging Asian poultry stocks in late 2003 according to WHO.

Most people sickened by H5N1 have come into contact with infected birds and it remains very difficult to catch. But experts fear the virus could mutate into a form that spreads easily among humans possibly sparking a pandemic that could kill millions around the world.

The death toll in Indonesia, a massive archipelago that is home to 220 million people, is increasing faster than any other country in the world with all of its deaths occurring in the last year.

The cash-strapped government has been criticized for not routinely slaughtering fowl in infected areas seen as the best way to stop the virus from spreading. It says it cannot afford to compensate farmers.