According to the announcement made by an Indonesian Health Ministry official on Tuesday, a 23-year-old man in Sumatra has been confirmed to have bird flu. U.N. bird flu crises coordinator, David Nabarro, who was in Jakarta at that time, as part of his "five-nation trip" in Asia, said he will not recommend a mass culling of chickens, because it could harm the local economy. "Would you see anybody recommending seriously the culling of these vital elements of local food security, local saving, nor you neither would I," said Nabbaro. Since 2003, Indonesia has had 23 internationally confirmed deaths from avian influenza, making it the country with the most deaths caused by bird flu this year, the virus killing at least 12 people this year. "This morning we got a confirmation that the result from the Hong Kong laboratory was positive for a 23-year-old male. He is still hospitalized at Jamil hospital in Padang, West Sumatra," asserted Hariadi Wibisono, an official from the health ministry. The man was working at a farm in West Sumatra before he became sick. The 23-year-old poultry worker, identified as Achyan, is treated at a hospital in Padang, the capital city of West Sumatra. Nabarro also said the government has made progress in dealing with the bird flu issue. A door-to-door campaign to try to control the disease has been initiated for a few weeks in the capital Jakarta. Indonesian officials estimate that the capital has some 500,000 fowl.