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Doctors in Serang, Banten Province, West Java, Indonesia, have begun applying a Tamiflu blanket over the village of Desa Terumbu in Benten Province. This follows another potential family H5N1 cluster in the nation of 18,000 islands. The sick were initially taken to hospital in Serang, the capital of Banten Province, which is home to some 9 million Indonesians.

They now reside in Indonesia's special Avian-Flu (AI) center at the Jakarta-based Persahabatan Hospital, transported by four ambulances, earlier today.

Flu sites and bloggers (click links at left for FluTrackers, H5N1 and Avian Flu Diary) have been atomic today with growing news of the emergence of this potential cluster. The dead giveaway, according to Dr. Henry Niman (www.recombinomics.com), are the depressed leukocyte levels, accompanied by the usual symptoms of H5N1 infection.

Newspaper accounts are starting to coalesce around five siblings in the same immediate family being sick. The ages range from 8 to 30, also a cause for concern. Accounts are also starting to coalesce around two being the first ones ill, and then the other three got sick sometime later (the word "afterwards" shows up in machine translations). Whatever "afterwards" means, in flu symptom timelines, usually means after a period of days.

Two additional family members -- a 33-year old and a 65-year old -- are awaiting treatment at hospital. They were apparently triaged and the first five were the most seriously ill, so they were moved first, according to flusite poster Commonground's translation of a MetroTV repot (http://www.metrotvnews.com/berita.asp?id=50975).

Here's the rub: There were apparently two other infected students who bolted, cut and ran like the Indonesian wind when the words "Flu Burung" were mentioned. So they have to be located, tested and treated.

Jum'at, 21 Desember 2007 22:08 WIB
Five patients was suspected BIRD FLU was reconciled to RS PERSABAHATAN

Serang: Five the patient was expected by bird flu from the Terumbu Village, Kecamatan Kasemen, Kabupaten Serang, Banten, Jum'at (21/12), was brought to the Persahabatan Hospital, Jakarta.
When being brought by the condition for the five casualties was increasingly critical in a hot manner high that never will descend. They will undergo the inspection that was more intensive in the Persahabatan Hospital, Jakarta.
The patients were carried by the ambulance belonging to the Public Hospital of Daerah Serang and Regional Government Serang. According to the family, the casualties had the story was touching with the poultry in their house environment.
The five patients were expected by this bird flu each being Mukhlis, 27 years; Iklima, 17 years, Muhaimin, 15 years; Nujun, 10 years and Najad, 8 years.

All are awaiting test results.

The next story is from the Vietnam News Agency (!) below: http://www.vnanet.vn/Home/EN/tabid/119/itemid/228803/Default.aspx

21/12/2007 -- 9:09 PM

Jakarta (VNA) - Five members of a family in Indonesia's densely-populated West Java province are suspected to be infected with the deadly bird flu virus.
The suspects, aged between 8 and 30, suffered from high fevers, coughing and had difficulty breathing following an outbreak of the virus among local poultry. They were reportedly admitted to Serang hospital, about 80 kilometres west of Jakarta , earlier this week.
They were transferred on December 21 to Persahabatan hospital in Jakarta, which is designated to treat avian influenza patients, Serang district health office chief Encep Mukardi told Antara news agency.

Flusite poster Laidback Al's map of the Banten Province is above.

A local Indonesian report speaks of a boarding school where the headmaster and several students became ill after eating duck for dinner. The original Malay report link is below. I trust the machine translation from Flusiteposter Dutchy, and have kept her bolding for emphasis:

Students were affected by bird flu
Six students and a management of the Islamic Boarding School (ponpes) Riyadul Huda, in the Village/Desa Terumbu, Kecamatan Kasemen, Serang, Banten, was stated suspect bird flu by the team of the doctor RSUD Serang.
From the seven students and the management ponpes that terindikasi this bird flu, the team of the doctor could only diagnose 5 patients.
His article, two other students that terindikasi the same illness escaped. Suspected two patients that bolted, frightened when being checked.
Five patients have been done by the inspection and their results terindikasi bird flu, said Dr. Sulhi Azis, Kepala RSUD Serang to several reporters, in his office, on Friday (22/12).
The five casualties were affected by the illness attack from the animal, Muklas, 30, (the management ponpes), Mubin, 25, Imah, 20, Enjat, 15, and Nuzul, 9, the four of them were the student who came from the local village.
They have been reconciled by us to be treated in RS Persahabatan, Jakarta, explained Sulhi.
Sulhi added, the indication of the five students was infected by the bird flu illness, among them the level of leucocyte of bird flu casualties that less than the range of the normal figure.
Duck Carcass
leucocytes the five of them were based on results of the inspection of RSUD Serang was in the figure was supervised 5,000 cells/cubic mm.
"If the healthy person of the level of his leucocyte might not less than that."
Occupants ponpes was run off with to RSUD Serang on Wednesday (19/12) on local reconciliation of the community health centre doctor.
The five of them it was reported experienced the increase in the temperature of the high body, breathless as well as paralysed after beforehand consumed a duck that was shattered because of being sick. The other news mentioned, casualties beforehand also could hold the duck carcass.
The head of the Health Service of Serang, Dr. Encep Mukardi said, his side carried out prevention efforts by distributing Tamiflu to the occupants ponpes this and the resident of surrounding area.
The Ponpes Riyadul Huda management, Samsuri said, the environment ponpes that was taken care of by him was gotten by many of much poultry livestock breeding belonging to the resident. http://www.poskota.co.id/news_baca.asp?id=42797&ik=4

Apparently, "ponpes" is "school," I guess. But as Dutchy's translation attests, it is an Islamic church-connected school, which would explain the wide divergence in victim's ages (from 8 to 65). Islamic religious instruction (as in other religions) ideally stretches from cradle to grave. So we can reconcile the two stories with Dutchy's other translation, this time of a Kompas story, Lima Warga "Suspect" Flu Burung Jalani Isolasi :

Dr. Niman contributes this report, from Indonesia's English-language Antara News Service:

Five suspected bird flu patients moved to AI center
Serang, Banten (ANTARA News) - After three days of medical treatment at the Serang General Hospital, five suspected bird flu patients were moved to the special Avian-Flu (AI) center at the Jakarta-based Persahabatan Hospital by four ambulances on Friday.
The five, identified as Mubinul Hamidi (16), his younger brothers Nujulul Hak (10) and Najatul Hidayat (8), Muhlas (30) and his younger sister Iklimah (17) were rushed to the general hospital on Wednesday after being treated at a local health service post.
Fathurahman, the father of the first three patients, said his children were suffering from fever with respiratory difficulty and cough before being taken to the health service post.
He said a day before they fell ill, about 60 ducks and chickens owned by him and his neighbors had died suddenly.
"Local agriculture officers who checked the dead fowls said they tested positive for bird flu," he said.
Bird flu has so far claimed the lives of 93 people in Indonesia.
The last fatality was a 47-year-old man who died at Persahabatan Hospital, after falling ill from the H5N1 virus on December 2.

http://www.antara.co.id/en/arc/2007/12/21/five-suspected-bird-flu-patients-moved-to-ai-center/

So as we read in multiple accounts, poultry in the immediate area also tested positive for H5N1 just days before the first suspected human cases started rolling in.

OK, so here's my take: At least five, or possibly seven, members of a family were at a school, probably associated with and connected to a mosque, taking religious instruction, or maybe just studying or even celebrating. At least some of the family members apparently ate a duck that was possibly infected with H5N1, as reports summarize the duck didn't look so hot to begin with, and H5N1 is endemic in the immediate area. The local clinci quickly became overwhelmed, and the regional hospital sent them ahead to Jakarta, which is also not unusual. What is unusual is the application of a Tamiflu blanket on the attendees of the school, we presume the mosque, and residents of the surrounding community.

Or, more accurately put, a Tamiflu blanket used to be unusual, but is rapidly becoming routine in Indonesia. Maybe elsewhere too.

What we don't know is if the family is testing positive for H5N1. As we also know, Tamiflu has the demonstrated capacity to reduce virus to levels below positive in the usual tests. So we shall see.

Now where did those two students run off to?