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JAKARTA, Feb 24 (Bernama) -- Jakarta launched on Friday a
two-month bird sweeping programme to contain the spread of the
avian influenza
virus (H5N1) that has infected some 170 people in at least
19 countries all over the world.
Antara News Agency in its Friday report said, the drive was
launched after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono summoned last
week the governors of six most affected provinces, namely
Jakarta, West Java, Banten, Central Java, Lampung and South
Sulwesi.
The Jakarta administration fielded 50 teams of 600 strong task
forces to undertake door-to-door
checks on commercial and backyard fowls in 44 urban
districts and 267 villages.
There are about 200 poultry farms, each with about 1,000 fowls
in Jakarta. Besides the commercial farming, thousands of
neighbourhoods also raise a range of between 300 and 400
backyard birds each, the news agency quoted Head of Jakarta
Animal Husbandry Office Edi Setiarto as saying.
Indonesia, the fourth most populous country with 220 million,
has been ranked by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the
second largest nation, after Vietnam, affected by the fast
spreading H5N1 bird flu
virus.
Most cases in Indonesia, where WHO has confirmed 26 human cases
with 19 deaths of H5N1 infection, are found in Jakarta. This has
prompted Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso to take stern measures to
fight the
virus.
"I will see to it whether it is possible to ban poultry farming
in Jakarta," the governor said. He appealed to the people to
stop raising backyard flocks. They usually only have two or
three chickens but this is even more dangerous as the chickens
always wander around, the governor added.
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In view of the spread of the
virus, Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari has expressed
concern over the possibility of the disease to be transmitted
from human-to-human victims. Human-to-human
transmission of the disease is more obvious as the number of
cluster cases or cases of infection affecting close areas have
risen, the minister said.
Therefore, Sutiyoso appealed to the people to kill their birds
or chickens if they are suspected to have contracted the bird
flu
virus. He called on the Jakarta resident to give priority to
human life then fowls. I hope that Jakarta residents would be
aware of the importance and choose human life than their fowls,
the Jakarta Governor said when he launched the bird sweeping
programme at the City Hall on Friday.
In the mean time, Agriculture Minister Anton Apriantono observed
the execution of the bird flu operations in the Pramuka Bird
Market in East Jakarta. We are launching the war against bird
flu Friday, the minister said.
Sutiyoso who also conducted an impromptu visit to the Pramuka
Bird Market called on bird traders to surrender their birds if
found tested positive to be culled.
According to Antara, in conducting door-to-door
checks on birds, the task force teams would make an
inventory on residents fowls and would
check them to find out whether they were tested positive or
negative.
Fowls tested negative would be vaccinated and their coops and
the surroundings would be sprayed with disinfectant. Birds
tested positive would be culled. Those in the area of one
kilometer radius from the affected poultry would also be culled,
while those found in the area of some three kilometers radius
from the outbreak would get vaccination and disinfectant. |
According to Edi Setiarto, chief of Jakarta Animal Husbandry
Office, owners would receive Rp10,000 or about US$0.9 in
compensation for each of birds killed. The amount is set by the
central government, he said. We hope that owners would not look
at the value of the compensation but the dangerous threat of
pandemic of bird flu
virus, he added.
There is a fast spreading trend of the
virus in the world. WHO recorded that the bird flu
virus had spread to 13 countries since the beginning of
February 2006, apart from the previous six countries where human
deaths as a result of H5N1
virus were found.
The WHO has recorded at least 170 cases in 19 countries. Of
the 170 people infected with the H5N1
virus, 92 were dead. WHO reported only laboratory-confirmed
cases.
The Sulianti Saroso Infection Hospital in Jakarta, on of the 45
reference hospitals tasked with handling bird flu patients, has
up to Friday recorded 27 deaths of bird flu suspects. But not
all of the figures had been confirmed by
the WHO.
WHO indicated that Indonesia, with 26 cases (19 deaths) was
ranked second after Vietnam which had 93 cases (42 deaths).
Thailand came third in the list with 22 cases (14 deaths),
followed by China with 12 cases (8 deaths), Turkey with 12 cases
(4 deaths) and Cambodia with 4 cases (4 deaths).
According to WHO, the 13 countries where new cases of bird flu
were found since early this month are Iraq, Nigeria, Azerbaijan,
Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Slovenia, Iran, Austria, Germany,
Egypt, India and France.
-- BERNAMA |
