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.