(Adds another death) JAKARTA, April 6 (Reuters) - A 15-year-old Indonesian girl has died of bird flu, a health ministry official said on Friday, taking the country's human death toll from the virus to 73. Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous country, has had more deaths from the H5N1 strain of avian influenza than any other nation. Joko Suyono from the health ministry's bird flu centre said the teenager lived in Menteng in the heart of Jakarta and had had contact with sick chickens. He said dead chickens had been found in her neighbourhood. "The hospital said she had a cough and high fever. Families said she had contact with chickens. The case has been confirmed by two tests," Suyono said. Humans who contract bird flu have generally had contact with infected fowl. A bird flu centre official said another Indonesian had also died of bird flu, but the case had only been confirmed by the health ministry's laboratory and was awaiting confirmation from Indonesia's molecular and biological agency. The 29-year-old man from central Java was admitted to hospital on March 30 with high fever, a cough, muscle pain and respiratory problems, Muhammad Nadirin from the health ministry's bird flu centre told Reuters. The victim's neighbours said they had found sick and dead chickens around his home. On Sunday, a Jakarta housemaid who had looked after a pet eagle died from bird flu. The virus is endemic among fowl in many parts of Indonesia, where millions of people keep a few chickens or other domesticated birds in their yards. Although avian flu still mainly affects birds, experts fear if the H5N1 strain mutates into a form easily transmitted from person to person, it could sweep the world, killing millions.
