HEALTH authorities suspect two more people may have contracted a potentially deadly strain of bird flu on the Indonesian resort island of Bali.
A 58-year-old man from Jembrana district and a 28-year-old woman from Tabanan were being treated in Bali's Sanglah Hospital, Bali Health Agency chief Dr Dewa Ketut Oka said today.
The cases come a week after Indonesia confirmed two human bird flu deaths in Bali. A 29-year-old woman died on August 12 and her five-year-old daughter on August 3.
There have been 83 confirmed deaths from bird flu in Indonesia, the country hardest hit by the virus in the world.
Mr Oka said the provincial health agency had sent samples to Jakarta for testing to determine whether the man and woman had contracted the H5N1 virus.
Two different labs in Jakarta must return positive test results before a case is considered to be confirmed as H5N1.
"They are still (bird flu) suspects. We already sent the samples to the health ministry in Jakarta," Mr Oka said.
"They are both still undergoing treatment."
He said the man, who was a rubbish worker, had contact with dead chickens through his job.
"But the woman from Tabanan never had any contact with dead chickens," he said.
"The man from Jembrana is getting better. But the woman from Tabanan - we are still treating, but she is stable."
H5N1 is commonly caught by humans who have contact with infected chickens.