Two die of bird flu in Indonesia

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Two women in Indonesia have died after contracting bird flu, health officials have confirmed, raising the country's total number of human deaths to 61.

A 27-year-old woman from the capital, Jakarta, died in hospital on Friday evening, officials said.

Another woman, aged 22, died west of Jakarta in the early hours of Saturday.

Indonesia has the world's highest human death toll from the H5N1 virus, and registered more bird flu deaths in 2006 than any other nation.

The AFP news agency reported that another patient was in hospital showing symptoms of bird flu infection.

That patient has been placed in an isolation ward after killing a sick chicken and apparently contracting the disease, the report said.

Poultry danger

The latest deaths are the third and fourth fatalities of 2007 in Indonesia.

A 14-year-old boy died earlier this week from bird flu symptoms, and a 37-year-old woman was also killed.

Indonesia has stepped up efforts to lower rates of infection and limit the spread of the virus.

Most human cases are the result of contact with sick poultry.

According to the World Health Organisation, the disease has claimed more than 150 lives since it began ravaging Asian poultry farms in late 2003, and triggered the mass slaughter of millions of birds.

There are fears the virus could mutate into a form that is easily passed between humans, but so far the vast majority of cases can be traced back to contact with infected birds.