Indonesian Health Ministry reported 15 new deaths of bird flu (H5N1) in 2009, putting the total death toll to 134 out of 161 cases, a director at the ministry said here Wednesday.

Director General of Communicable Disease at the ministry Tjandra Yoga Aditama told Xinhua over phone that during the year there were 19 fatalities of bird flu in the year and 15 of them have not been reported.

Indonesia had been hit hardest by H5N1 virus in recent years.

The country has stopped announcing the case since last March.

Source: Xinhua