A 20-year-old woman in Indonesia who tested positive for bird flu has died, becoming the country's 64th human victim, a health official said.

The woman had a history of contact with infected chickens, officials said.

She died on Sunday in West Java province, a day after being diagnosed with the H5N1 strain of the virus.

Since Indonesia's first human case was discovered in 2005, 84 people have contracted the virus and 64 have died - the highest human toll in the world.

Two of the woman's neighbours are also in hospital showing symptoms of the virus.

The H5N1 virus does not pose a large-scale threat to humans as it cannot pass easily from one person to another.

But experts fear the virus could mutate at some point in the future and trigger a flu pandemic, potentially putting millions of human lives at risk.

PHOTO CAPTION

Children look at chicks kept in a cage at market in Denpasar, on Bali island, 01 February 2007. (AFP)

BBC