A 37-year old woman from an outskirt city of Jakarta died of bird flu on Thursday evening, putting the death toll to 59 out of 76 cases, Indonesian Health Ministry said.

 

The woman has been treated in Persahabatan Hospital in East Jakarta since Monday after she was shifted from a hospital in Tanggerang, an outskirt city near Jakarta, an official of the anti-bird flu center of the Indonesian Health Ministry Haris Sugiantoro said. She was admitted to the Tanggerang's hospital on Saturday last week, said Sugiantoro.

 

"She died at 19 :35 because of bird flu," head of team for eradication bird flu Mochtar Ihsan told Xinhua.

 

The woman has got the symptoms of high body temperature, respiratory problem and cough since January 1, then she went to a health clinic, said Sugiantoro.

 

"She has history of contact with fowl," he said, citing that there have been many chickens and duck around the housewife house.

 

The official said that a team comprising of staff from the health ministry and agriculture ministry will be deployed to the site on Friday.

 

Indonesia has become one of the front lines in the fighting against the H5N1 virus.

 

The United States President George Walker Bush in his meeting with his Indonesian counterpart Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on November 20 in Bogor town near Jakarta, has promised to help Indonesia in combating the deadly disease.

 

Indonesia, which has been lack of funds to combat the disease, expects the United States can use its power to push donor countries to materialize their pledge of around 6 billion U.S. dollars to help fight avian influenza during their meeting in Beijing, China.

 

Experts have warned international community of the risks of the disease if Indonesia fails to prevent the highly pathogenic H5N1 virus from spreading.

 

The huge territory, backyard centered farming and relatively lack budget have hampered the authorities in the country to fighting avian influenza.

 

(Xinhua News Agency January 12, 2007)