Indonesia confirms 92nd bird flu death

A 28-year-old woman from the outskirts of the Indonesian capital has been confirmed as dying of bird flu, raising the toll in the nation worst affected by H5N1 to 92.

A 28-year-old woman from the outskirts of the Indonesian capital has been confirmed as dying of bird flu, raising the toll in the nation worst affected by H5N1 to 92, the health ministry said on Tuesday.

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Two laboratory tests on the woman, who died on at a hospital in Jakarta, showed that she was infected with the virus, a statement from the ministry's bird flu information center said.

Two positive results of tests on blood and tissue samples from a victim are needed before Indonesian authorities confirm a bird flu infection in Jakarta.

Officials had earlier told AFP that they were still investigating whether the woman, who had sold ornamental plants, had come into contact with infected poultry, the usual method of transmission to humans of the virus.

The health ministry statement said that a neighbour living 100 metres (yards) away from the victim, who was named Mutiah, owned poultry. It was not immediately clear whether they were infected birds.

Scientists fear that the virus may mutate into a form easily transmissible between humans, sparking a deadly global pandemic.