10 October 2005

The Ministry of Health in Indonesia has confirmed another human case of H5N1 avian influenza. The patient, a 21-year-old man from Lampung, Sumatra, developed symptoms on 20 September and was hospitalized on 24 September. He remains hospitalized in a stable condition.

Confirmatory testing was conducted at a WHO reference laboratory in Hong Kong.

Initial investigation has revealed that the man had direct exposure to diseased and dying chickens in his household shortly before the onset of illness. Contact tracing and field investigations are under way and samples have been taken to determine whether family members and other close contacts may have been infected.

The man is the fifth laboratory-confirmed case of H5N1 infection in Indonesia. Three out of the five cases were fatal.