JAKARTA, Indonesia -- An Indonesian man is the 25th there to die of the deadly strain of bird flu, World Health Organization tests confirmed.

Indonesia has the world's second-highest number of human bird flu deaths behind Vietnam.

The sprawling archipelago is logging cases faster than any other country, leading some international health experts to claim it could do more to battle the virus.

The man who died last month had contact with poultry in a city 25 miles west of the capital Jakarta that has tallied several deaths.

The virus has killed or forced the slaughter of more than 200 million birds across Asia and spread to Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

The lethal strain of the virus has killed 113 people worldwide, mostly in Asia.

Avian influenza, or bird flu, is a contagious disease of animals causes by viruses that normally infect only birds and, less commonly, pigs.

The bird flu virus could evolve into a form that is easily spread between people, becoming highly contagious. Since people would have no natural immunity to it, it could cause widespread death and illness.