Bird Flu Explodes In Indonesia

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Efforts to counter bird flu in Indonesia are insufficient, a World Health Organization official said.

Dick Thompson said they are trying to fix a "leak in the roof, and there's a storm."

The country has averaged a human bird flu death every 2 1/2 days through this month.

That rate could soon make Indonesia the world's hardest-hit country.

A WHO spokesman said "the virus is in animals almost everywhere."

He also said Indonesia's problems are compounded by "the lack of effective attention" to the problem.

One epidemiologist called the scattered bureacracies across the sprawling island nation "breathtaking."

He said leaders' "power only extends to the wall of their office."

Experts are worried by the bird flu deaths of six of seven family members in Sumatra. An eighth family member was buried before samples were retrieved. Experts suspect the relatives caught the flu from human-to-human contact.

Avian influenza, or bird flu, is a contagious disease of animals causes by viruses that normally infect only birds and, less commonly, pigs.

The bird flu virus could evolve into a form that is easily spread between people, becoming highly contagious. Since people would have no natural immunity to it, it could cause widespread death and illness.