Jakarta bird flu hospital overwhelmed with patients

JAKARTA, Jan 15 (Reuters) - One of two hospitals designated to treat bird flu cases in the Indonesian capital has been overwhelmed with patients with symptoms of the disease amid a spike of new cases this year, a doctor said on Monday.

Indonesia has seen four fatalities 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 in the world.

Nine people with bird flu symptoms are being treated at Jakarta's Persahabatan hospital and its isolation rooms can no longer accept any more patients, said Muchtar Ichsan, the head of the hospital's bird flu ward.

A 5-year old girl was being treated at the intensive care unit, he said.

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

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