confirm new bird flu death

Jakarta, Indonesia — Laboratory tests confirmed that a 25-year-old woman who died in the Indonesian capital overnight had bird flu, officials said Wednesday as they investigated the possibility that several members of a family in West Java were infected by the virus. Health experts are closely watching possible "clusters" of cases within families or neighborhoods for signs of human-to-human transmission

The H5N1 bird flu virus has been ravaging poultry stocks across Asia since 2003 and has jumped to humans, killing at least 68, most in Vietnam and Thailand.

On Wednesday, China reported its 25th outbreak of bird flu in poultry since Oct. 19. China has confirmed three human cases of bird flu, including two fatalities.(1-Dec 2005)