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Well, it didn't take long for Indonesia to reaffirm its standing as Bird Flu Capital of the Planet. A bunch of chickens died en masse and some villagers started feeling sick in Makassar, South Sulawesi, and presto! The Indonesian government moves in and starts testing. Plus, the Health Ministry actually starts talking about it! This sudden government transparency is both a surprise and a welcome development.

Note it is not Supari, but rather the acting head of communicable disease control who is making the announcement.This may or may not be H5N1. We have seen so many false alarms recently that I do not normally even mention them unless we have very strong suspicions and anecdotal evidence that bird flu is the culprit.

In this case, I will make an exception, expecially since the Indonesian government has.

Here's the Reuters story:

Indonesia to test 17 for bird flu in Sulawesi 13 Nov 2008 12:53:23 GMT Source: Reuters

JAKARTA, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Seventeen people from the same neighbourhood in the Indonesian city of Makassar in South Sulawesi are due to be tested for bird flu after falling sick, a health ministry official said on Thursday. Chandra Yoga Adhitama, acting director-general of communicable disease control, said the group had been hospitalised after chickens in the surrounding area suddenly died.

"Some were hospitalised yesterday and some today. I think it is a precaution by our officials after chickens died there," Adhitama said.

He described the general health condition of the 17 as good and said that blood samples had been taken and would be sent to the health ministry laboratory in Jakarta for testing.

"We are continuing to monitor their condition," he said, adding that only four of the group were adults.

Suspected cluster cases can raise concerns about rare human-to-human transmission or that the virus might have mutated into a form that can pass easily among people.

The country's largest known cluster of bird flu cases in humans occurred in May 2006 in the Karo district of North Sumatra province, where as many as 7 people in an extended family died.

The World Health Organisation said at the time that limited human-to-human transmission could not be ruled out but that the virus samples from the scene did not show any significant genetic mutations.

Bird flu remains mainly an animal disease but experts fear the H5N1 virus might mutate into a pandemic strain that would sweep the globe, possibly killing millions and hobbling economies.

Indonesia has the highest toll of any nation and a health official said on Wednesday that a 15-year-old Indonesian girl has died of bird flu in central Java, bringing the country's death toll from the disease to 113. (Reporting by Telly Nathalia; Editing by Ed Davies and Valerie Lee)

And from the Jakarta Post:

17 treated in Makassar for suspected bird flu

Andi Hajramuni , The Jakarta Post , Makassar | Thu, 11/13/2008 8:23 PM | National

Wahidin Sudirohusodo Hospital in Makassar, South Sulawesi, has been treating 17 patients since Wednesday for suspected bird flu.

The suspects, 13 of them children, are residents of Sudiang subdistrict. Seven were admitted to the hospital Wednesday, the rest arrived Thursday.

Hospital spokesperson Andi Kurnia Bintang said the patients were suffering from high fever, coughing and breathing difficulty, all symptoms closely associated with bird flu.

"Rapid tests showed they may be infected with the H5N1 avian influenza virus, but we are waiting for blood test results to come back from the Hasanuddin University lab," Kurnia said.

Kurnia said 31 chickens had died in the subdistrict in the past week before three toddlers started to show symptoms Monday.

Separately, head of Makassar's husbandry office, Sulistiawati, said that his office had found several chickens which tested positive in the bird-flu quick test.

She said she had sent officers to cull 20 birds and spray disinfectant at chicken farms in the area. (dre)

Stay tuned.