Female Patient Hospitalized In Medan As Bird Flu Suspect

Medan, North Sumatra ( Berita ) :  Adam Malik Public Hospital in Medan, North Sumatra Province, again received a female patient identified as R br S (49) as a bird flu suspect.

The hospital had taken a blood sample from the patient, a resident of Pancur Batu, Deli Serdang, a spokesman of Adam Malik Hospital, Sinar Ginting, said here on Wednesday.

The patient suffered from high fever, coughing, and a respiratory problem. She had contacts with chickens of her owns as well as her neighbor’s, which had died suddenly.

Bird flu or Avian Influenza killed a woman, Nerpi Sitinjak (26), a resident of Percut Sei Tuan area in Deli Serdang district, North Sumatra, recenly (May 12).

The victim, who had been treated for three days at Adam Malik Haj Hospital, was declared a bird flu patient according to a medical test conducted by the Health Ministry’s Research and Development Centre four hours before the expectant woman died.

Sitinjak had earlier found a dead chicken and cooked it before she fell ill and was rushed to the hospital.

The case was the first this year, while in 2006 five of six bird flu suspects from North Sumatra treated at the same hospital who were relatives to each other died. ( ant )