#952
Antara News Agency is reporting that a 9-year old child from East Java is hospitalized with suspected bird flu symptoms. As always, we won't know if this is truly an H5N1 case until testing comes back.
06/29/07 22:05
Child in Tulungagung hospitalized with bird flu-like symptoms
Tulungagung (ANTARA News) - A nine-year-old child in Tulungagung, East Java, is suspected of having been infected with the bird flu virus, a hospital official said.
The child, identified by its initials "EN" from Bungur, Karangrejo, is currently being treated at a local state hospital. The hospital`s spokesman, Triwidyono Agus Basuki, said here on Friday the child`s conditon was worsening.
"We cannot as yet tell if the symptoms shown by the patient are really of birdflu because we have just sent samples of its blood to Surabaya for examination," he said.
He said EN was admitted to the hospital on Thursday night with symptoms associated with bird flu.
He said a number of chickens belonging to its granfather had died suddenly. "By chance, an animal health service official was conducting a counseling in the village. Upon hearing that a villager was ill with bird flu-like symptoms he immediately asked the child`s family to take it to a local health care center," he said.
From there the child was later brought to the Dr Iskak Hospital and put in an isolation room.
The animal health service official discovered at least 13 chickens had died suddenly in the village where EN lives.
Two people in Tulungagung had died in the past one year of the virus. (*)
