Jakarta bird flu hospital "overwhelmed" with patients

One of two hospitals designated to treat bird flu cases in the Indonesian capital has been overwhelmed with patients with symptoms of the disease, a doctor said on Monday.

In response to a new surge in cases, two Indonesian ministers said the government was pressing for a ban on backyard fowl in three provincial areas worst hit by the H5N1 bird flu virus.

Four Indonesians have died this year after a six-week lull in cases, taking the number of human deaths from bird flu in the country to 61, the highest of any country.

Nine people with bird flu symptoms, including a 5-year-old girls in intensive care, were being treated at Jakarta's Persahabatan hospital and its isolation rooms could accept no more patients, the head of the hospital's bird flu ward said.

"If we get more patients, we will send them to Sulianti Saroso," Muchtar Ichsan told Reuters, referring the country's main bird flu treatment centre in North Jakarta.

Seven of the patients at Persahabatan came from Bekasi, a town east of Jakarta, said Muhammad Nadirin, a doctor at the bird flu information centre.

An 18-year-old man being treated in Persahabatan has been confirmed to have bird flu after his mother died of the disease on Thursday.