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JAKARTA, April 7 (Reuters) - A 29-year-old Indonesian man from Central Java province has died of bird flu, a health ministry official said on Saturday, taking the human death toll from the virus in the country to 74.

Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous country, has had more deaths from the H5N1 strain of avian influenza than any other nation.

The man who came from the town of Sukoharjo died at a hospital in the Central Java city of Solo on Thursday after a week of treatmeant.

"He had contact with his neighbour's chickens which died suddenly in a large number," said Joko Suyono, an official at the health ministry's bird flu centre.

Humans who contract bird flu have generally had contact with infected fowl.

The virus is endemic among fowl in many parts of Indonesia, where millions of people keep a few chickens or other domesticated birds in their yards.

Although avian flu still mainly affects birds, experts fear that if the H5N1 strain mutates into a form easily transmitted from person to person, it could sweep the world, killing millions.

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