Re: INDONESIA - Jakarta, Jan 20+
Re: INDONESIA - Jakarta, Jan 20+
If this isn't in the right place, please move it. Sorry if it's not.
Three more suspected bird flu patients admitted to hospitals
Suherdjoko and Andi Hajramurni, The Jakarta Post, Semarang, Makassar
Two suspected bird flu patients have been admitted to Kariadi Hospital in Semarang, Central Java, and another one to Wahidin Sudirohusodo Hospital in Makassar, South Sulawesi.
The two Semarang patients -- Mustofa, 51, and Suripah, 26 -- have been treated in the hospital's intensive care unit since Sunday, after coming down with symptoms similar to those of bird flu.
Mustofa's daughter, Siti Fatimah, said Monday her father had suffered from high fever with respiratory difficulties since Jan. 18. "Due to the illness in his throat, he could not speak. I wasn't sure whether his disease had something to do with bird flu. We just got scared after we found out many fowls in our village had died suddenly for unclear reasons," Siti said.
"Because of our fear we brought our father here Sunday. The hospital still has not given us any information about the cause of my father's illness," she said. She added that her neighbors raised a lot of poultry in their backyards.
Suripah's father, Simin, said his daughter complained of breathing problems and coughing. He believed his daughter was infected with bird flu because several days before she fell ill, many birds kept by their neighbors died suddenly.
The two raised the number of suspected bird flu patients in Central Java this year to four. One patient died in the first week of January. She was identified as Supiah, 27, a resident of Blerong village in Guntur district, Demak regency.
After Supiah's death, authorities carried out a mass cull of fowls raised by residents in her village.
The Makassar patient is a 22-month-old baby named Putri. She was admitted to the hospital Saturday with a high fever and difficulty breathing.
Rendrawati, Putri's mother, said her daughter had been ill for a week. As Putri's temperature remained high, Rendrawati brought her to the hospital to get better medical treatment.
"Instead of falling, her temperature rose on the fourth day of her illness. I was worried she was infected with the bird flu virus because she was used to playing with the neighbors' fowls, some of which had died suddenly," Rendrawati said.
She explained that Putri's condition had improved significantly, but the hospital had not yet determined her diagnosis because her blood samples were still being analyzed at the laboratory.
The local administration has urged residents of South Sulawesi to be alert for the possible spread of bird flu because the province is classified as one of the nine regions in the country where the virus is endemic.
Last year at least 25 suspected bird flu patients were admitted to the same hospital in Makassar.
Meanwhile, West Java has not yet begun mass culls, which are already underway in Jakarta.
Nana M. Adnan of the West Java Livestock Husbandry Office said officials were awaiting a decree from the governor. Nearly 33 million chickens are raised in backyards throughout the province.
"We cannot do anything because the gubernatorial decree is still being worked out," Nana said in Bandung on Monday.
The number of suspected bird flu patients being treated at the Hasan Sadikin Hospital in Bandung fell to four as of Monday.
One patient, a woman from Garut, died Friday.
Yuli Tri Suwarni contributed to this article from Bandung.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailnational.asp?fileid=20070123.G01&irec=0Three more suspected bird flu patients admitted to hospitals