he H5N1 or the bird flu Virus has claimed its 100th life in Indonesia, the country hardest hit by the virus. The 9-year-old boy died at the Suliant Saroso Hospital early Monday.

On Sunday, a 23-year-old woman also died and laboratory test confirmed that the cause was the bird flu virus as the woman reportedly lived near a poultry slaughterhouse in East Jakarta. The virus has become endemic in birds in almost all 's 33 provinces

The United States has donated 10,000 sets of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to Bangladesh as combat gear for strengthening avian influenza prevention and control.

Each PPE set consists of coveralls, shoe covers, a respirator, goggles, an apron, and inner and outer gloves, a U.S. embassy press statement says in the capital, Dhaka on Monday

Local administrations have started taking measures to prevent the possible spread of the bird flu from India. Concerned officials have urged the general public to remain on alert against the possible entry of the disease in the country.

Siraha district administration has already banned the import of poultry products from India after cases of bird flu were reported in Bihar

Bangladesh is taking aggressive steps to protect its poultry from the recent outbreak of bird flu in nearby India. The government plans to start door-to-door surveillance as soon as possible to check the possible spread of bird flu, which has taken a pandemic form in India's West Bengal region, officials said.

"The government with the cooperation of the Food and Agricultural Organization will appoint some 150 veterinaries at the upazila level in the districts, which are prone to bird flu outbreak," Secretary of the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock of Bangladesh Syed Ataur Rahman was quoted by the New Age, a local newspaper, as saying

ird flu has struck in India. The bird flu virus has spread out to nine of the 19 districts of West Bengal: Burdwan, Birbhum, South Dinajpur, Murshidabad, Nadia, Malda, Bankura, Cooch Behar and Hooghly. The virus was first detected in Birbhum district two weeks ago.

The state government has earmarked the release of $80.5 million to prevent the disease from further spreading. The World Health Organization (WHO) earlier said it was India's most serious outbreak since the strain first hit the country two years ago