Bird flu has killed a woman in Indonesia, the 62nd death from the virus in the country with the highest human fatality rate, a health ministry official said on Saturday.

The 19-year-old woman from West Java died on Friday, Dr. Muhammad Nadirin at the ministry´s bird flu center, told Reuters.

"She was sick since January 11, got a high temperature and cough and then entered Garut hospital on January 17," he said.

"Six days before she got sick she had contact with a sick chicken that, according to the agriculture department´s rapid test, was also positive for bird flu."

Most human bird flu cases have resulted from contact with infected fowl.

Indonesia, the world´s fourth-most-populous country and one that stretches across 17,000 islands in an archipelago as wide as the continental United States, faces an uphill task in fighting the virus.

Millions of backyard fowl live in close proximity to humans and health education campaigns have often been patchy and rules difficult to enforce.

This week a campaign began to rid the Indonesian capital of such fowl but it got a mixed reaction from residents. Some welcomed the culling amid health concerns but others worried about losing a key source of income.

Bird flu remains essentially an animal disease, but it has infected nearly 260 people worldwide since late 2003, killing more than 150, according to the World Health Organization, and sparking fears of a pandemic.

Since 2003, outbreaks have been confirmed in about 50 countries and territories.