JAKARTA, Indonesia - A senior health official says 13 villagers hospitalized with bird flu-like symptoms in western Indonesia have tested negative for the disease.
Nyoman Kandun said the test results came back negative on Saturday and the patients' conditions are improving.
He says dozens of chickens started dying last week from the H5N1 bird flu virus in Air Batu, a village on Sumatra Island, sending panicked residents rushing to a nearby hospital.
Indonesia's death toll of 112 people from bird flu accounts for nearly half the more than 240 recorded fatalities worldwide since the virus began ravaging poultry stocks in Asia in 2003. - AP