•    HOME   
•    NEWS   
•    BUSINESS   
•    INTERNATIONAL   
•    TECH   
•    SPORTS   
•    LIFE & TIMES   
•    OPINION   
•    MY JAKARTA   
•    BLOGS   

Health authorities in Jakarta on Monday gave the 5-year-old brother of a young man who recently died of bird flu a clean bill of health.

The toddler, identified only as A.S.R., was hospitalized with a fever and cough on Saturday, the same day his 23-year-old brother, P.D.Y., died of the disease.

“The laboratory results for the brother of the victim came back negative,” Dien Emmawati, the head of Jakarta’s health office, said on Monday.

Officials have confirmed that P.D.Y. had bird flu. He died at a bird flu referral hospital in Tangerang after the main hospital in the capital was unable to accommodate him because of a lack of space.

Dien said her office, along with the Ministry of Health’s research and development agency, had taken blood samples from about 10 people who had been in close contact with P.D.Y. before his death for testing.

“Officials stepped up their monitoring of residents in the surrounding area on Saturday and the intense monitoring will remain in place for two weeks, so we will know immediately if anyone else has been infected,” she said.

The health office has also distributed Tamiflu to area residents to protect them from infection.

“Bird flu patients can be saved if they are brought to the hospital as early as possible to get the appropriate treatment,” Dien said. “If they come in too late, it is difficult to treat them.”

She added that she would issue a directive to the city’s three referral hospitals to prioritize bird flu patients so that no more patients were turned away and referred to another hospital.

“We will ask that two to three beds be left empty at the referral hospitals,” she said.

Data from Jakarta’s health office show three people in the capital were infected with bird flu last year, with two deaths.

There were three bird flu patients and three deaths in 2010, and 10 infections resulting in eight deaths the previous year.

Meanwhile, Jakarta’s fisheries and agriculture office has said that is opening six locations across the city to field reports about sudden bird or poultry deaths that could indicate a bird flu outbreak.

People will be able to call in the reports and speak to officials. The telephone numbers are: 0816954326, 08128543354, 081284211191, 08158834371, 08151827656 and 08129940881.