a 39-year-old indonesian man has died from the h5n1 strain of bird flu according to local tests, health minister siti fadillah supari said on friday in a statement carried by reuters. supari told reporters the ministry was awaiting confirmation of the results from a hong kong laboratory affiliated with the world health organisation (who). indonesia has had nine deaths from bird flu confirmed by the hong kong laboratory and five cases where patients have survived. 'local tests show he)s positive for bird flu,' supari said, referring to the man who died earlier this week at a hospital in jakarta designated to treat bird flu patients. who spokeswoman maria cheng said the victim was from south jakarta and the initial indications were that it was another isolated case. 'there were reports of sick and dying poultry in the neighbourhood, so it does look as if there is an identifiable source of exposure,' said cheng, who is based at who headquarters in geneva. --more
