# 1187
The Jakarta Post this morning is reporting the sad news of the death of a 10-year-old girl, suspected to have been infected with the bird flu virus.
Another suspected bird flu patient dies in Riau
JAKARTA (JP): A girl believed to have been suffering from bird flu died in Riau province, Metro TV reported Sunday.
The 10-year-old girl was treated at the Arifin Achmad hospital on Saturday and died less than 12 hours later.
A doctor at the hospital said local tests indicated that the girl had bird flu, but samples from her body were to be sent to Jakarta for testing to confirm the cause of death.
Indonesia has the highest human bird flu infection rate, recording 109 cases, 88 of which died. (**)
From reading the local Indonesian reports, I gather this young girl had been treated at another hospital for three days before her transfer to the Arifin Achmad hospital yesterday. Preliminary tests have indicated avian flu, but this must be confirmed by more exacting laboratory tests.
Meanwhile, we are also seeing reports of another patient, a 47-year-old man named Udin, in Bandar Lampung. While suspected of having H5N1, laboratory tests are pending. He reportedly has been ill since October 12th, although we only began to hear about his case yesterday.
News, particularly out of Indonesia, has been in short supply for the last week. This has been, in part, due to the week-long celebration called Lebaran in Indonesia which follows the fasting month of Ramadan.
Lebaran is a unique phenomenon whereby Muslims visit their family and friends to ask for forgiveness for any wrongs they might have committed in the previous year. Nearly all government offices are either closed, or operating on reduced staff, during Lebaran. Lebaran began on October 12th, and ended on Friday the 19th.
