JAKARTA, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- The bird flu fatality rate in Indonesia this year dropped from its level last year, the executive chairman of the National Commission of Bird Flu Control and Alertness (FBPI) said here on Tuesday.

    "The fatality rate in 2007 was 88.1 percent, and in the first semester of 2008 it was recorded at 84.2 percent," Antara news agency quoted FBPI Chairman Bayu Krisnamurthi as saying.

    "The decrease has not made us relax, but at least it is a positive sign," he said.

    In 2006, 43 people were confirmed to have been infected with the virus, and 34 of them died. In 2007, 27 people were infected, and 23 died.

    During the first half of this year, FBHI had recorded 19 bird flu cases and 16 of the sufferers died. Around 42 percent of the patients had had direct contact with infected poultry.

    According official sources, 112 people have died since 2003 when bird flu virus attacked Indonesia.