A four year-old Indonesian girl has died from H5N1 bird flu virus, and three other people in the area -- who did not have contact with the child -- are being tested for the virus, an official said on Monday. With a death toll to date of 136, Indonesia has the highest number of deaths from the virus of any country globally. The girl, who lived in Pekanbaru, Sumatra, died on Wednesday, said Azizman Saad, the head of bird flu unit at Arifin Achmad hospital. The three others -- a mother, her seven year-old child, and a five-year-old girl who live in Siak district, northeast of Pekanbaru -- were admitted to hospital on Friday. The Arifin Achmad hospital in Pekanbaru, Sumatra, is waiting for lab results for the three patients to see whether they have been infected with the same virus, he told Reuters. The World Health Organization (WHO) on its website put the death toll for H5N1 virus for Indonesia at 135, but Tarayati said the ministry will update the WHO with the recent death.
