Bird flu cases in Indonesia down, health minister says

Minister of Healthy Siti Fadilah Supari said that in the last 6 months the number of cases of bir dflu on human beings in Indonesia had declined significantly.

In the beginning of the second semester of 2008 the number of the bir dflu cases on human beings had dropped, and the number has even reached the lowest compared to those in 2005, 2006 and 2007, she said in the company of Head of the North Sumatra Health Agency dr Chandra Syafei Sp.OG and member of the North Sumatra Regional Representatives Council (DPD) Parlindungan Purba upon arrival at Medan`s Polonia airport on Wednesday.

The minister said that the main cause of the decline in the bird flu cases on human beings is the fact that people have now become increasingly aware that one should do something as soon as he or she found out that he or she had the symptoms of being affected with this fatal virus.

At present each regional administration has a guidebook on bird flu for distribution to all layers of the society.

"Thank God we already have a handbook on bird flu, and ...