Teenager dies of bird flu; Indonesia's toll now 47

Bird flu has killed 142 worldwide since ravaging poultry stocks across Asia in 2003, Indonesia being hardest hit.

A teenager died of bird flu in eastern Indonesia, raising the country's human toll from the disease to 47, the health minister said on Thursday, citing laboratory test results. The 14-year-old boy from South Sulawesi's capital Makassar appears to have been in contact with infected poultry, said Siti Fadilah Supari, adding that authorities stamped out chickens found near the victim's home.

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Lab tests for the teen came back late on Wednesday, she said. Bird flu has killed 142 people worldwide since ravaging poultry stocks across Asia in 2003, 47 of them in hardest hit Indonesia.