Health Journal Entry

Bird Flu Rages Across Indonesia (March 31, 2008)

The dangerous H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus is getting more and more out of control in Indonesia. The virus has killed millions of chickens across the country. Making things worse, new mutant strains of the virus are showing up. Health officials say this raises the danger of the virus spreading to humans.

According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the virus is hitting 31 of 33 provinces in Indonesia. It's widespread on the islands of Java, Sumatra, Bali, and Sulawesi.

Indonesia has 1.4 billion chickens. Nearly 300 million of these are found in backyard flocks. That's worrisome because it means millions of people are in close contact with infected chickens day after day.

The bird flu virus has already killed hundreds of millions birds worldwide. According to the World Health Organization, there have been 373 human cases with 236 deaths since the virus began spreading from Southeast Asia in 2003. Nearly all of these people were infected by handling sick chickens.

If the bird flu virus did mutate to a form more easily spread from person to person, it could be deadly on a massive scale. The Spanish Flu of 1918 and 1919, which killed upwards of 40 million people around the world, is thought to have mutated from a bird virus.