Avian Influenza Death Toll In Indonesia Rises To 115

January 22, 2009 1:02 a.m. EST

Jakarta, Indonesia (AHN) - Indonesia's health ministry on Wednesday reported two more deaths from bird flu infection raising the country's total human death toll from the disease to 115.

The last two victims of the avian influenza were a 6-year-old girl in Bekasi, West Java and a 29-year-old woman from Tangerang outside the capital Jakarta, said the ministry. The woman died on Dec. 16 and the girl died on Jan. 2.

The two victims contracted the flu after exposure to chickens in the market. They were twice tested and both results indicated they were positive of the H5N1 strain of the virus. .

The first bird flu fatality in Indonesia was recorded in 2005, three years after the disease infected poultry in Asia.