Special report: Global fight against bird flu

    BEIJING, Dec. 26 (Xinhuanet) -- An Indonesian woman died Tuesday from bird flu, raising the country's death toll from the disease to 94, according to media reports Wednesday.

    The woman from Cengkarang, on the western outskirts of Jakarta, tested positive for the H5N1 strain after being hospitalized for six days, said Joko Suyono, an official at the Indonesian Health Ministry's avian flu center.

    "The woman bought a live chicken in the market and slaughtered the chicken there before taking it home. But we're still investigating the cause as a team is heading to the neighborhood today," Suyono said.

    Indonesia has the world's highest number of human deaths from bird flu -- almost half of the recorded, said the World Health Organization, adding almost all cases have originated from sick poultry.

    Humans are typically infected with bird flu by coming into direct contact with infected poultry, but experts fear the virus may mutate into a form easily transmissible between humans, possibly infecting millions around the world.

    Indonesia, which has millions of backyard chickens and poor medical facilities, is a potential hotspot for global bird flu pandemic, experts warned.

    At least 340 people in 13 countries have contracted the virus since 2003, the World Health Organization said.

    (Agencies)