Jakarta (ANTARA News) - A resident of Sunter, PD (23), in North Jakarta has been confirmed to have died of bird flu, a health ministry official said here on Tuesday.

"The death makes total deaths of bird flu in Indonesia since 2005 to 151 out of 183 cases," the director general of disease control and environmental health, Tjandra Yoga Aditama, said.

He said the health ministry recorded 11 deaths in 2011 and PD`s death was the first in 2012.

Tjandra Yoga who is a vocal point of the International Health Regulation (IHR) has reported the case to the World Health Organization (WHO) for further study.

PD first suffered fever, coughing, and running nose on December 31, 2011 but the fever would not drop although he had taken a medicine.

On January 3, 2012 he was then taken to a private hospital in North Jakarta. On January 6, he had trouble breathing and then collapsed and so he was put in an intensive care unit.

He was later refereed to RSU Tangerang which is a bird flu reference hospital in Banten on January 7 where he later died at 10.50pm.

"Epidemiological examination has been carried out at his residence and its surrounding area by a team from the health ministry and the local health service who later found the risk factor namely contact with his dove that died earlier," Tjandra said. (*)

Editor: Kunto Wibisono
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