Bird Flu Information and Update
Laboratory tests have confirmed that bird flu was the cause of death of a middle-aged Indonesian male in November 2005. The man was the 14th fatality of bird flu infections in Indonesia, and the ninth bird flu case confirmed by the World Health Organization after the case was sent by local health officials to Hong Kong for verification.
The confirmation brings to 70 the number of people in Asia who have died in the last two years from the H5N1 strain, now considered the deadliest avian influenza virus subtype. Antiviral medications such as amantadine and rimantadine, which are usually given to treat influenza, do not work on the avian flu virus. Drugs are being developed and temporarily used on patients who appear to have succumbed to the avian flu disease. Although they appear to be responding to treatment and are showing improvements, further tests need to be done to ensure the effectivity of these new drugs.