Bird Flu Kills Young Woman in Indonesia

A 19-year-old woman died of bird flu in Indonesia and an 8-year-old boy from her family was hospitalized with the virus, officials said Saturday.With concerns about a possible human bird flu pandemic rising around the globe, the World Bank said it was finalizing plans to provide up to $500 million to help poor countries fight the disease.In this electron micrograph provided by the Centers for Disease Control, the bird influenza virus strain H5N1, seen in gold, grown in MDCK cells, seen in green, is seen in this 1997 photograph.Although a relatively few people have died from the bird flu, experts continue to voice concern of a global pandemic should the virus mutate into a strain that readily attacks humans. In this electron micrograph provided by the Centers for Disease Control, the bird influenza virus strain H5N1, seen in gold, grown in MDCK cells, seen in green, is seen in this 1997 photograph. Although a relatively few people have died from the bird flu, experts continue to voice concern of a global pandemic should the virus mutate into a strain that readily attacks humans. New cases of the virus in birds were reported in China and Vietnam this week.The woman, from the town of Tangerang on the outskirts of the Indonesia capital Jakarta, was believed to have contracted the virus from infected dead chickens in her neighborhood, said Hariadi Wibisono, a Ministry of Health official. Her death brings the number of people killed by the disease in Indonesia to five, he said. Full Story