Three Indonesian children, two of them sisters, are believed to have contracted bird flu and are being treated in hospital, a senior Health Ministry official said today.

An Indonesian man and child died earlier this month of bird flu, the health minister said today, after receiving confirmation from a WHO-affiliated laboratory.

The death toll from Indonesia’s bird flu outbreak has risen to six, as the government announced it has ordered more than half a million tablets of anti-viral medication to help fight the disease.

Indonesia was today struggling to calm public fears about an outbreak of bird flu after three children suspected of having the disease died and 11 other patients were admitted to hospital with flu-like symptoms.