Indonesia reports second bird flu death this year

JAKARTA, January 20, 2012 (AFP) -


 Indonesia on Friday reported its second


 human death from bird flu this year, with


 the


 death of a five-year-old girl who recently lost


 her relative to the deadly virus.

Concerns about avian influenza have


 risen in  the region after China in late


 December


 reported its first fatality from the H5N1 virus in 18 months.

Vietnam on Thursday reported its first human death from the virus in nearly two years, as the virus also claimed the life of a toddler in Cambodia.

The latest Indonesian victim lived in the same house with a 24-year-old relative who died of the virus on January 7 but authorities say there is no evidence of human-to-human transmission between the two infected people.

"The child passed away after being treated for a few days at a hospital," Tjandra Yoga Aditama, the head of communicable diseases at Indonesia's health ministry, told AFP.

"We have conducted several tests and the results showed that she contracted the same H5N1 avian influenza virus that was detected before, so the virus has not developed," he said.

The girl had contact with poultry around their neighbourhood, he said, but could not confirm whether she had contracted the virus from chickens or pigeons -- both found in her neighbourhood of Tanjung Priok in north Jakarta.

Indonesia has been the hardest-hit by


 bird flu,with 150 deaths reported between


 2003 and  2011,according to the World


 Health Organization.