Indonesian boy dies of bird flu, official says

JAKARTA (Reuters) - 'A nine-year-old Indonesian boy has died of bird flu, an official of the health ministry's bird flu information centre said on Sunday, taking the country's death toll from the disease to 51. ...

His death comes after the health ministry said on Friday that bird flu killed an 11-year-old boy from East Java province. The boy died last week after chickens died around his house. The ministry said it was sending a team to investigate the case.'...more

The death of two boys so young within a couple of days seems particularly worrisome. Infectious disease experts have long said that Indonesia is the most likely place for the bird flu virus to mutate into a pandemic global strain that is spread easily from human to human. We will watch Indonesia particularly carefully as we enter the traditional "flu season" of fall and winter.

Stay tuned to birdflubeacon.com for continuing coverage around the world as we monitor the spread of the H5N1 virus.