Jakarta (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Indonesia has registered its 43rd human death from bird flu, surpassing Vietnam to become the country hardest hit by the lethal H5N1 virus. The case must be confirmed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) after local tests – usually accurate – revealed it was bird flu that killed a 16-year-old boy from Jakarta last night.

Indonesia has recorded more deaths than any other region. Vietnam, which until last week topped the list of affected countries with 42 deaths, has not registered any fatal case so far this year.

The latest Indonesian victim is a youth from Belasi, a Jakarta suburb. He was admitted to the city's specialized bird flu centre, Sulianti Saroso hospital, on 5 August, but his condition rapidly deteriorated. Health officials said he had been in contact with sick chickens before he contracted the disease. Transmission from poultry is the main cause of human bird flu. But there is a fear that the virus could mutate to a human to human mode of transmission, generating a pandemic that would threaten millions of lives. WHO experts said Indonesia itself may already have had cases of human to human infection when seven members of the same family died in May. However in that case, the H5N1 did not display any particular mutations.

Indonesia has often come under fire for failing to adopt adequate measures to fight the epidemic. For example, it is reluctant to cull large numbers of infected fowl, a method that has proved effective in other nations. Jakarta defends itself by saying it does not have enough money to compensate farmers, and has asked for $900 million over the next three years to fight the virus.

More than 130 people have died of bird flu since 2003. Most deaths occurred in south-east Asia but the virus has also reached Europe, Africa, central and southern Asia.