The deaths go on and on...

Further Bird Flu Death in Indonesia Spread of the disease may be assisted by the approaching rainy season Aloysius Wisnuhardana (wisnuhard) One more person has died of the bird flu virus in Indonesia. Taufik Zakariah, a 20-year-old man from Bandung, died on Thursday four days after his brother. Both were suspected of catching bird flu after feeding their dogs with dead chickens they bought in the market near their house. After the two brothers died their cousin was also suspected of having bird flu. She was brought to Hasan Sadikin Hospital in Bandung after attending the burial of the brothers. Soon afterwards the 18-year-old female developed a high fever, coughing, and found it hard to breathe. Her body temperature reached 39 degree Celsius. This girl was suspected for bird flu because she lived in the same house as Taufik, the first person to die in the family. However, laboratory tests have yet to be conducted on her blood sample. Meanwhile, the young sister of this family, a 15-year-old female, is also being treated in Hasan Sadikin Hospital due to a high fever and breathing difficulties. The laboratory test revealed that she was negative for the bird flu virus, but the medical staff still gave her medical treatment. She initially required an oxygen tube but she is now breathing unaided. The doctors will keep her in hospital for the next seven days to make sure that her condition becomes normal. They are also waiting for a third laboratory test. To prevent the situation worsening, health officers have now taken blood samples for examination from about 20 people who live near the dead patients. Meanwhile Mike Perdue, a doctor from the W.H.O., was reported by AFP as explaining that H5N1, otherwise known as the bird flu virus, never sleeps and is still a danger. As the rainy season approaches and the weather becomes colder, the risk of virus mutation is more possible and at the same the human body's resistance drops. That is the best time for viruses to hit humans. Perdue warns that although a virus mutation incident has not happened, it remains a possibility. Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari said yesterday on television that the government was not too slow-going to fight against the bird flu spreading across Indonesia. She explained what her side had done and would do, including distribute more bird flu antibiotics, especially into the regions where there are bird flu outbreaks. Another factor behind how the bird flu virus continues to spread and is becoming difficult to stop is economic. In the latest cluster the victims became infected after buying dead chickens from the market. It is possible that other people actually were infected by the same virus. The problem is understanding what caused the traders to sell the dead chickens. There were undoubtedly economic motivations. Beside this factor, another factor is awareness about how to prevent the bird flu virus among people who live with poultry or chickens near their houses. Again and again we find that economic considerations prevent people from living their lives without chickens, even for just a little while. ©2006 OhmyNews