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BANGKOK, Oct 24
(Bernama) -- The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the
United Nations will send an emergency team of experts to
Indonesia to assist the country embark on a new phase of the
battle against avian influenza at source in poultry.
The FAO Asia-Pacific region office here said it would first set
up a task force involving national veterinary authorities,
ministries, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World
Food Programme for logistical support.
FAO Chief Veterinary Officer Joseph Domenech said the serious
bird flu situation in Indonesia, where several human death cases
have been recorded recently, requires a strong coordinated
response involving all players from the national level down to
the many districts and local communities.
"The bird flu virus is threatening to become endemic in several
parts of the country.
"We are very much concerned about the presence of the virus in
the small flocks of millions of backyard poultry farmers," he
said in a statement released by FAO, here Monday.
Domenech said there seemed to be a lack of awareness in the
rural and suburban communities about the threat the virus poses
to humans and animals, compared to big poultry producers who
have generally managed to protect themselves due to their
knowledge and means to mount effective biosecurity and virus
control. |
The bird flu
virus, which killed thousands of animals and many humans when it
started in Asia two years, has emerged again in the region and
has now spread to Europe.
Peter Roeder, animal health officer who will head the FAO team
in Indonesia, said their basic objective was to kick-start virus
control activities in the field and establish local disease
control centres in hotspot areas.
"These centres will offer updated information and will train
animal health technicians and veterinarians on how to carry out
rapid disease search and control," he said.
Among others,
the team would be going from house to house to search for sick
birds and decide with Indonesian authorities on control measures
such as slaughtering, vaccination and biosecurity.
Initially, the project will mainly focus on Jawa where most of
the human deaths have occurred and FAO would also engage
non-governmental organizations to play a key role in community
outreach and coordination activities.
Roeder said the military-like approach against avian influenza
has proved very successful in Thailand and FAO would bring in a
team of experienced Thai veterinarians to share their experience
with Indonesian animal health experts and to train hundreds of
animal health technicians.
"We believe Indonesia can learn a lot from the Thai experience,"
he said. |
Domenech said
they would also explore further the possibility of compensation
for farmers as killing infected chickens was a big economic loss
for many poor farmers and they are often reluctant to abandon
their flocks.
"We have to do
everything to make farmers our main allies in the battle against
bird flu," he said.
Domenech said the search for the virus in local communities
could be more efficient if a kit for rapid virus tests was
available but unfortunately such a kit for testing animals on
the spot does not yet exist and authorities are still dependent
on time-consuming laboratory tests.
FAO said the emergency project in Indonesia was funded by the
United States Agency for International Development (USAID) with
US$1.5 million.-- BERNAMA |
