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JAKARTA : Two more Indonesians have been positively diagnosed with bird flu, but both are still alive, Health Minister Siti Fadillah Supari said Wednesday.
"Presently there is an addition of two more cases so that the total currently stands at 83 infected, 63 of them dead," Supari told journalists at her office.
Indonesia is the country worst affected by the deadly H5N1 strain of avian influenza, and has seen the worst of a recent resurgence of the virus, with outbreaks in poultry in Vietnam, Thailand, South Korea and Japan.
China reported its first human case in six months in January and Egypt recorded its 11th death.
Supari gave no details on the identity or origin of the two new Indonesian patients or whether they had a recent history of close contact with infected birds or poultry.
But she said both were alive, even describing one as "very much healthy."
The vast majority of bird flu cases in Indonesia have stemmed from contact with infected poultry.
According to the World Health Organisation, a total of 166 people have died of bird flu since 2003, out of 272 infections.
Scientists fear bird flu will mutate into a form easily transmissible between humans, sparking a pandemic that could potentially kill millions. - AFP/ch
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