Special
report: Global fight against bird
flu
JAKARTA, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- Seven children aged
between one and 10 years old have been suspected of having bird flu in
Indonesia's Riau province, where four people have died of the virus in recent
months, an official said Tuesday.
"It is only suspicion but we are serious to handle
the case," local head office head Hasanul Irbai was quoted by leading news
website Detikcom as saying.
The seven children live in Merampi Hulu village, Siak
regency in the province on Sumatra island.
"The Siak government will immediately send the
children to the Arifin Achmad Hospital in (provincial capital) Pekanbaru," he
said.
Earlier this week, the government confirmed that bird
flu was the cause of the death of a 10-year-old girl in Riau, bringing the total
of national casualties to 89, the highest among other bird-flu affected
countries in the world.
