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Bird flu appears in Indonesia, China as winter sets in

Bird flu has resurfaced in parts of Asia, with human deaths reported in Indonesia and China and fresh poultry outbreaks plaguing other countries during the winter months when the virus typically flares.

Indonesia, the nation hardest hit by the H5N1 virus, announced its 93rd death on Friday. A 47-year old man fell ill on Dec. 2 and was admitted to a Jakarta hospital with flu-like symptoms, but died on Thursday, Health Ministry spokesman Joko Suyono said. The man was the 115th Indonesian infected with the disease.

The military in China's eastern Nanjing Province banned the sale of poultry this week after a father and son were sickened by the disease. Health officials confirmed a 24-year-old man died from the virus earlier this month, and that his father, 52, also fell sick. The son was the 17th person killed by H5N1 in China.

The cause of the infection was unclear, although the two Chinese men were believed to have eaten a traditional dish known as ``beggar's chicken,'' in which the bird is wrapped in lotus leaves and baked. The father was recovering after taking the antiviral drug Tamiflu, said Hans Troedsson, the WHO representative in China. More than 80 people who came into contact with the family were being monitored for symptoms.

Local animal health officials said last week no H5N1 outbreaks had been detected among the province's poultry, but Troedsson said sick birds typically are not reported prior to human deaths in China -- a sign the country's surveillance systems need to be improved.

The virus has killed 208 people worldwide since it began ravaging Asian poultry stocks in late 2003, according to the WHO. It remains difficult for people to catch, but experts fear it could mutate into a form that passes easily among people, potentially infecting millions globally. So far, most human cases have been linked to contact with sick birds.

Scientists say it is impossible to predict what the H5N1 virus will do, but more bird flu outbreaks often occur when temperatures drop as winter sets in.

Officials in Pakistan were meanwhile investigating the country's first suspected bird flu cases. Two poultry farm workers died this week after being hospitalized with flu-like symptoms in Peshawar, said Khushdil Khan, medical superintendent of the Khyber Teaching Hospital.

Blood samples were sent to the Health Ministry in Islamabad for testing, but the results have not been confirmed, Khan said on Friday. Pakistan has grappled with bird flu outbreaks among poultry for the past two years.
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