GENEVA - THE Indonesian health ministry has reported two deaths from bird flu in recent weeks, easing concerns about whether Jakarta would share information about the disease, the World Health Organisation said on Thursday.

Indonesia has had more human bird flu infections than any other country, with 110 deaths out of 135 cases, and monitoring the H5N1 virus in the sprawling archipelago is seen as crucial.

The latest infections are the first since Health Minister Siti Fadillah Supari declared two weeks ago that Jakarta had changed its policy on reporting human cases and would only announce the death toll every six months.

The WHO, a United Nations agency, has been seeking clarification on her remarks amid concerns that that the decision could lead to delays in containing outbreaks.

'The minister has told WHO they will not continue to share publicly whenever there is a new case but they will inform the WHO in conformity with IHR,' said Mr David Heymann, WHO assistant director-general for health security and environment.

'We anticipate that promise will be honoured,' he said.

Information sharing
The WHO encourages all governments to share information freely with their populations, but it remains their decision, according to Mr Heymann. Indonesian authorities were still trying to confirm a suspect 111th bird flu death, he added.

The WHO, in a statement reporting information from the health ministry, said that a 16-year-old girl from south Jakarta died on May 14 and a 34-year-old woman from Banten province died on June 3.

Investigation into the girl's death indicate she was exposed to sick and dead poultry, which carried the H5N1 virus, while investigations into the source of the second woman's infection are continuing, according to the WHO.

There have been 385 human bird flu infections, including 243 fatalities, in 15 countries worldwide since 2003, it says.

Indonesia has maintained its decision not to share bird flu samples with WHO laboratories, saying it wants guarantees from richer nations and drugmakers that poor countries would get access to affordable vaccines developed from their samples.

International health experts say it is vital to have access to samples of the constantly-mutating virus, which they fear could change into a form spread more easily among humans and sweep the world in months, killing millions of people.

'There is a strong working relationship between the WHO country office and the government. Even if there is a conflict on issues like virus-sharing, it hasn't eroded the ability to carry out joint investigations,' WHO spokesman John Rainford said in Geneva.

At least 16 companies including GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi-Aventis are working on vaccines against H5N1.

The next negotiations to hammer out a new virus-sharing agreement among WHO member states are scheduled for November. -- REUTERS