Indonesia lowers bird flu death count

JAKARTA, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- Hours after announcing another death from avian flu, the Indonesian government Thursday lowered its death toll to three.

The Health Ministry said the revision from seven to three was in keeping with World Health Organization laboratory testing standards, the BBC said.

Indonesia conducts its own blood and tissue samples on possible bird flu victims, but before the WHO classifies a case as bird flu, further tests are required at the organization's laboratory in Hong Kong.

Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari said in addition to the three fatalities, Indonesia had one other confirmed case of bird flu, but that person was recovering.

The disease has killed dozens of people across Asia, and led to millions of birds being culled.

The H5N1 virus is principally an avian disease, first seen in humans in Hong Kong in 1997. There are unconfirmed reports from there and Vietnam that human-to-human transmission is possible. Scientists are also worried that the virus could mutate with other influenza viruses and reach a pandemic stage.