Indonesia threatened by highly pathogenic Avian Influenza

Antara News, Wednesday, February 17, 2010 04:49 WIB

Garut, W Java (ANTARA News) - The bird flu viruses attacking Indonesia have been classified as "highly pathogenic avian influenza" (HPAI), a veterinarian said here Tuesday.

In the West Java district of Garut alone, there were at least 75 cases of HPAI between 2006 and 2010 in which more than 2,893 chickens suddenly died, Dida K.Endang said.

The attacks of bird flu viruses in 48 villages of Garut district over the past four years had sparked fears of human infection, said the head of Garut`s veterinary office.

To protect local residents from the worst possibilities, a total of 7,000 infected chickens were culled.

Local authorities paid the owners a compensation of Rp12,500 (US$1,4) for every culled chicken, Endang said.

However, not all people welcomed the amount of compensation. Instead of giving the positively infected chickens for culling, they hid the poultry and just handed over small chickens, he said.

As a result, the efforts to control and halt the spread of bird flu viruses in Garut district were not so successful. This condition was worsened by the lack of locals` health awareness, he said.

Instead of burning the infected chickens, many Garut residents throw them into rivers, creeks, or ponds. Worse, some even consumed the infected chickens, he said.

In curbing the spread of the dangerous viruses, he urged the people to report any suspicious bird flu cases immediately to 12 bird flu surveillance teams.

The team members would have gone to the suspicious spots within 24 hours. The people could also report the condition to the heads of neighborhoods or villages, he said.

The West Java provincial government had targeted that by 2014 the province would have been free from bird flu viruses, Endang said.

The habit of throwing the bird flu-infected chickens into the river was not only found in Garut but also in such other West Java towns as Bogor.

This situation had also made Head of Bogor City`s Health Office Triawan Elan deeply concerned.

"We have asked local residents, who find chickens suddenly die not to throw them into the rivers but to burn them," Triawan Elan said recently.

He warned that the threats of bird flu viruses remained real after tens of chickens in Caparigi suburb suddenly died.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), avian influenza or "bird flu" is a contagious disease of animals caused by viruses that normally infect only birds and, less commonly, pigs.

The WHO has warned that the infection with avian influenza viruses could spread very rapidly through poultry flocks.

Indonesia has 33 provinces. Only three have been confirmed free from the threat of bird flu viruses.

Indonesia has been dealing with bird flu since 2005. However, the H5N1 type influenza is also known to have attacked chicken and birds in other Asian countries, such as Thailand, Cambodia, China, and Vietnam.