A 33-year-old Jakarta man is reported as the second human case and fatality from H5N1 avian influenza in Indonesia this year, according to a Jakarta Post report today.
The virus was confirmed based on the real-time and conventional Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) diagnostics on the victim’s specimen, the Health Ministry notes.
This is the second case reported in Indonesia this year. A 2-year-old boy from Central Java died from the lethal virus on April 20. In the weeks before disease onset of the child some backyard chickens died around the house.
This case is the 197th in Indonesia. H5N1 is a type of influenza virus that causes a highly infectious, severe respiratory disease in birds called avian influenza (or “bird flu”). Human cases of H5N1 avian influenza occur occasionally, but it is difficult to transmit the infection from person to person. When people do become infected, the mortality rate is about 60%.
Almost all cases of H5N1 infection in people have been associated with close contact with infected live or dead birds, or H5N1-contaminated environments. The virus does not infect humans easily, and spread from person to person appears to be unusual. There is no evidence that the disease can be spread to people through properly prepared and thoroughly cooked food. For more infectious disease news and information, visit and “like” the Infectious Disease News Facebook page
