# 527
We don't get a lot of `official' news out of Indonesia these days. In fact, since the flooding which began a month ago, the news has all but stopped. Some of this is likely due to the challenges facing that country with their latest natural disaster, and some, is likely due to the infighting between their health minister and the WHO over genetic sequences.
Despite little `official' comment, the local media continues to report on suspected human infections, with 17 new ones mentioned yesterday.
With Dengue, malaria, and now chikungunya (another mosquito borne disease) breaking out there, it's very difficult to know if these suspected cases are related to the H5N1 virus. There have been deaths of suspected `bird flu' patients in recent days, but no word on test results.
It is likely that many, if not most, of these `suspected cases' are something other than bird flu. The lack of follow up on these reports is disconcerting, however.
We obviously can't know what we don't know, but obviously, bird flu remains a serious problem in Indonesia. It didn't stop, just because the news was diverted by other events.
Today, we learn the military is being brought into the fight.
Indonesian military to help fight bird flu
Fri 2 Mar 2007 11:43:14 GMT
By Fitri Wulandari
JAKARTA, March 2 (Reuters) - The Indonesian military will help in the fight against bird flu as part of the country's efforts to stamp out the disease that has killed 63 people, the bird flu national committee said on Friday.
The military will set up bird flu treatment centres at two army hospitals to ensure wider access to medical care people infected with the virus, the committee said in a statement.
In addition, the military will also support national and regional bird flu control efforts in remote areas in the sprawling archipelago, which has the world's highest human death toll from the virus."The military will also work closely in developing Indonesia's contingency plan for a possible pandemic by holding regular simulation and field exercises," Bayu Krisnamurthi, the head of the committee, said.
"We will coordinate all military services related to bird flu control programmes."
