# 2941
Nearly 90 days into 2009, and according to the official counts maintained by the World Health Organization, Indonesia has yet to report a human infection or death from the H5N1 virus.
The WHO is constrained, of course, from reporting cases until they have been confirmed by the country of origin’s Health Ministry.
Until that happens, officially, they are not counted.
The last update from Indonesia came two months ago (Avian influenza – situation in Indonesia ) and it was in reference to two cases from December of 2008.
Since then we’ve seen local media reports of more than a dozen cases, some of which have been `locally confirmed’ by doctors or government officials, but not `officially confirmed’ by Depkes, the Health Ministry.
A good example of this (but by no means, the only one) is this report via Ida at the Bird Flu Information Corner.
The Indonesian newspaper Tempo Interaktif is quoting the mayor of South Jakarta, Syahrul Effendi, as confirming two H5N1 deaths in his city this year.
Two districts in South Jakarta stated as bird flu ‘red spot’ area
March 26, 2009
Jakarta – Two districts (kecamatan) in South Jakarta stated as ‘red spot’ of bird flu virus. This statement was made regarding to two fatal victims who killed by bird flu virus on February and March 2009.
“It means that this area is susceptible for bird flu spreading”, said head of Livestock and Fishery Service, South Jakarta, Chaidir Taufik after his team had finished depopulation measure to fowls this afternoon (25/3).
Two districts that susceptible for bird flu are Kecamatan Pesanggrahan and Kebayoran Lama. “We haven’t know until when this status will last”, as he added.
On 2 February, IR, 3, resident of Damai II Petukangan Selatan, Pesanggrahan, South Jakarta had died due to bird flu infection. Followed by the fatality of SDW, 4, resident of Jalan Peninggaran, Kebayoran Lama Utara, Kebayoran Lama on March 5th.
“They both tested positive bird flu”, said the mayor of South Jakarta, Syahrul Effendi.
According to Chaidir, fowls traffic in those areas will be monitored strictly. Routine patrol to poultries will also be done, including disinfection to poultry pools and abattoirs.
Source: Indonesia newspaper, Tempo Interaktif.
It has been more than 3 weeks since the AP carried the following story, which was based on comments made in early February (see Indonesian Official: Four More Bird Flu Fatalities) and yet no `official’ confirmation of these, or any other cases, has been forthcoming from the Indonesian Health Ministry.
Mar 3, 3:55 AM EST
4 Indonesians die of bird flu; toll climbs to 119
By IRWAN FIRDAUS
Associated Press WriterJAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- Four Indonesians have died of bird flu, bringing the death toll in the country hardest hit by the disease to 119, an official said Tuesday.
Bayu Krisnamurthi, chief of the National Bird Flu Commission, said all the victims were believed to have been infected after coming into contact with sick poultry. They were from Java island and died in January and February.
<snip>
Krisnamurthi had little details about the latest deaths, saying only that two were siblings from the city of Bogor and the others were women from Bekasi and Surabaya.
Despite these, and other, reports - Officially, the Death Toll still remains at 115, with 141 total cases.
Today, we have news of another possible bird flu fatality in Riau, and we are watching a possible cluster in Garut.
While the number of human cases this year does not appear to be any greater (and may even be less) than we’ve seen in previous years, the Health Ministry’s ongoing silence only serves to increase the level of concern and suspicion over what is really going on in that country.
Health Minister Supari may consider silence on this issue to be golden, but were I a tourist planning a visit to Bali, or a business executive looking to invest in Indonesia, I’d be more than a little leery given the ongoing lack of transparency on the part of the Health Ministry on Indonesia’s bird flu problem.
