Indonesia rules out bird flu cluster

Indonesia has cleared six members of a family hospitalised with bird flu symptoms, a health official said, in a case that has raised concerns over potential human-to-human spread of the disease.

It also comes as the World Health Organisation investigates a suspected case of limited human-to-human transmission of the H5N1 bird flu virus in Pakistan.

The six Indonesians from a small village in Banten province, just hours from the capital Jakarta, had been suffering from high fever after more than a dozen sick ducks died in their backyard.

Two sets of laboratory tests showed the six admitted to a hospital in Jakarta did not have the H5N1 virus, said Nyoman Kandun, director-general of communicable disease control at Indonesia's health ministry.