Indonesia: a 32-year-old man dies of bird flu

A 32-year-old Indonesian man has died of bird flu, bringing the death toll in the country from the virus to 65, a health ministry official said on Friday.

The man died at a hospital in the capital Jakarta on Thursday morning, Ahmad Prihatna, an epidemiologist at the health ministry´s bird flu information center said by telephone.

The man, from east Jakarta, kept a pet bird in his house, the official added.

"But it has not been determined whether the bird was infected with bird flu," he said.

The man was admitted to Persahabatan hospital, one of Jakarta´s two bird flu treatment centers, on Wednesday after being treated at another hospital in the eastern part of Jakarta.

Indonesia, which has millions of backyard fowl, has the world´s highest death toll from the H5N1 bird flu virus.