A 16-year-old Indonesia boy has tested positive for bird flu and was in a deteriorating condition, health officials said today.

Additional tests were needed to confirm the results, but preliminary findings showed that the boy contracted the potentially fatal illness from sick chickens in the West Java district of Bekasi, east of the capital, Jakarta.

He was receiving treatment at Sulianto Saroso Hospital, said I Nyoman Kandun, a leading Health Ministry official.

Hospital Director Dr. Santoso Suroso said the patient’s “condition is deteriorating and he is supported by a respirator”.

Indonesia has recorded 42 human deaths from the H5N1 strain of the virus since July 2005 and is tied with Vietnam as the world’s hardest-hit country.

The boy had been receiving treatment at a local hospital, but was moved to a national hospital on Saturday, said Ningrum, an official with the ministry’s bird flu centre.

Blood samples would be sent to a World health Organisation-recognised laboratory in Atlanta, Georgia in the United States for secondary testing.

The bird flu situation in the vast archipelago grabbed world attention in May when seven members of a single family died of the virus – the largest recorded cluster to date. The WHO concluded that limited human-to-human transmission likely occurred, but the virus did not spread beyond the blood family members.

Authorities fear the virus could mutate to become more easily passable between people and cause a worldwide pandemic.