JAKARTA (Reuters) - An eight-year-old Indonesian boy diedof bird flu on Friday, the health ministry said, bringing thecountry's death toll from the virus to 97.

The boy from Tangerang, west of the capital Jakarta, diedafter being treated for one day at the country's main bird flutreatment centre, the ministry said in an e-mailed statement.

The ministry said the fact the boy's neighbor ran a chickenslaughterhouse was a risk factor and it was investigating.

Contact with sick fowl is the most common way ofcontracting bird flu, endemic in bird populations in most ofIndonesia.

Indonesia has had the most deaths from bird flu of anycountry.

Although bird flu remains an animal disease, experts fearthe virus could mutate into a form easily passed from human tohuman and kill millions.

(Reporting by Telly Nathalia; Writing by Ahmad Pathoni;Editing by Jerry Norton)