After three days of medical treatment at the Serang General Hospital, five suspected bird flu patients were moved to the special Avian-Flu (AI) center at the Jakarta-based Persahabatan Hospital by four ambulances today, ANTARA reported. The five were rushed to the general hospital on Wednesday after being treated at a local health service post. Fathurahman, the father of the first three patients, said his children were suffering from fever with respiratory difficulty and cough before being taken to the health service post. He said a day before they fell ill, about 60 ducks and chickens owned by him and his neighbors had died suddenly. "Local agriculture officers who checked the dead fowls said they tested positive for bird flu," he said. Bird flu has so far claimed the lives of 93 people in Indonesia. At least 208 people have died in 12 countries in Asia and Africa of the disease, according to World Health Organization statistics.
