City to start intensive anti-birdflu program

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 03/25/2008 12:43 AM 

The Jakarta administration and the national bird flu committee plan to intensify the bird flu prevention and control program in the capital, which will include strict monitoring of the poultry industry.

"The program has 10 items on its agenda, including the restructuring of the poultry business, regular cleaning of the poultry section at markets, minimizing transportation of poultry and enacting stricter regulations on the live chicken trade," Adnan Ahmad, head of veterinary health at the Jakarta Agriculture, Husbandry and Maritime Agency, said Monday.

He was speaking to reporters after a coordination meeting between the city administration and the National Committee for Avian Influenza Control and Pandemic Influenza Preparedness (Komnas FPBI).

The meeting was also attended by officials from the husbandry division at the Agriculture Ministry and from health agencies in Greater Jakarta.

Adnan said a 2007 city bylaw on poultry would regulate the live poultry trade and reduce the number of poultry slaughterhouses in the city starting in 2010.

In the future, poultry in the city will be kept and killed at one appointed slaughterhouse in each of the city's five municipalities, Adnan said.

Currently there are 259 poultry shelters and around 1,000 slaughterhouses processing approximately 400,000 chickens each day for consumption by Jakarta residents.

He said it was necessary to localize poultry and separate them from residents in order to curtail the spread of bird flu, which has claimed 105 lives throughout the archipelago in the past four years.

Komnas FPBI chairman Bayu Krisna Murthi said the program is focused on Greater Jakarta because that is where 70 percent of the country's bird flu deaths have occurred.

"More than half of the country's bird flu cases have happened in Jakarta and Tangerang," he said.

Bayu said research indicated the possibility of three new groups of bird flu virus strains, in addition to the already existing three groups, in the area.

"But further investigation has yet to prove their definite spread," said Bayu.

The program also aims to clear residences of free-roaming poultry, train doctors and nurses at local health clinics and private hospitals to deal with bird flu cases, hold public information campaigns, make preparations for a possible pandemic and continue the on-going research into the virus and vaccines.

The committee calculates that since 2004, bird flu has caused financial losses of around Rp 4.1 trillion (US$446 million).

This calculation is based on the value of exterminated chickens, decreasing demand and consumption of poultry commodities, additional costs suffered by the government and farmers to handle the disease and also losses suffered by other sectors, especially tourism. (dre)

Villagers team up with government to fight bird flu

Dicky Christanto , The Jakarta Post , Denpasar | Wed, 03/19/2008 12:19 AM

Through a series of workshops on Avian Influenza detection and prevention, villagers in Bali have joined forces with a team comprising local administration officials, virologists and UNESCO in fighting bird flu virus.

The program has also given poultry cages made from special nets worth Rp 1.2 million (US$160.60) to local breeders in three villages, Takmung in Klungkung regency, Banyubiru in Negara and Beraban in Tabanan.

"We want to encourage villagers to set up quick response mechanisms ... because the virus actually isn't that lethal. There are ways of preventing it from entering the human body," bird flu expert from Udayana University I Gusti Ngurah Mahardika told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

"The most important thing is whether we can increase public awareness. That is why we have to inform and educate people so they can stop the spread of the virus by themselves."

He said a workshop series had been organized for villagers on topics ranging from stopping the spread of the virus to proper ways to prepare and cook poultry and early symptoms of infection.

"People need basic know-how on this subject so they can put it make it a part of daily habits."

The three villages selected because they had been exposed to the virus in the past. Bird flu has killed a significant number of poultry in Takmung and Banyubiru, while Beraban has reported one human fatality.

Around the country, the virus has claimed 105 lives -- out of 129 reported bird flu cases.

Shinta Yuristari MD, a local physician at the Beraban village health center, said at the state of early symptoms the disease was curable. Therefore she encouraged people who became aware of possible symptoms to report immediately to a village health center.

"We keep telling people there is no need to be afraid, ashamed or embarrassed. If you have symptoms like a high fever, please immediately report to us at the health center before it's too late."

She said the health center had drugs for treating bird flu infection.

Head of Beraban village Made Sumawa said he had established a working team tasked with monitoring the existence of the virus on a daily basis. The team comprising local officials and community leaders monitors poultry at traditional markets.

The team has also monitored and inspected the poultry supply entering the village from neighboring regencies.

"We have guarded every door to the village. I hope there will be no headlines about the virus here," Sumawa said.

He said the village administration had issued a local regulation require villagers to relocate poultry away from houses. The rule also makes it mandatory for the farmers to keep birds inside cages.

"We have a team of shooters patrolling the streets to enforce this regulation. When the team encounters a roaming chicken or duck ... it takes necessary measures, including shooting it."

He said the local administration had also warned people to take serious precautions against the virus as it could jeopardize the village's tourism industry. Beraban lies near Tanah Lot temple, one of the island's top attractions.

Beraban resident Wayan Wartika praised the quick response of local administration, saying it had helped increase local awareness of the danger of the virus.

"People have begun practicing the things they learned in the workshops and through the regulation. They understand the threat of the virus."

Related Article:

Why you should care about Indonesia

More concern over bird flu virus

Emmy Fitri , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Wed, 03/19/2008 12:20 AM

A senior Health Ministry official on Tuesday dismissed fears of a virus reassortment between avian and human seasonal influenza strains in a 2007 human death involving bird flu infection.

Director General of Communicable Diseases I Nyoman Kandun said the possibility of reassortment between the avian influenza virus -- H5N1 -- and other flu viruses was always possible, but had not yet happened.

"When and where it will happen, nobody knows. Risk assessment therefore is very important," Kandun said.

Reassortment of the highly pathogenic avian influenza and seasonal flu virus would give birth to a "new" virus that could be easily transmitted from human to human, resulting in a pandemic.

Scientific journal Cidrap has quoted researcher Vivi Setiawaty of the Center for Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Research and Development as saying a 16-year-old Indonesian girl died of co-infection between seasonal and avian strains of influenza in April 2007.

The girl tested positive for flu under the Health Ministry's flu-surveillance system, which was established in 2005 shortly after the country reported its first bird flu infection in a human.

The girl had shown flu symptoms for several days before she was treated for an infectious disease in East Jakarta. She was reported to have mild symptoms, including sore throat, cough and body aches, but displayed neither respiratory problems nor signs of pneumonia.

Throat and nasal-swab samples that were taken on the sixth day of her symptoms tested positive by reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for both avian influenza H5N1 and the seasonal flu strain H3N2.

The test results were confirmed by the Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology in Jakarta.

Cidrap said the girl's case occurred within the period when the Indonesian government ceased sharing flu isolates with the international laboratory overseen by the World Health Organization.

"Such infections are of great concern due to the possibility of genetic reassortment leading to the emergence of a H5N1 strain that is more easily transmitted human to human, and emphasizes the importance of advanced laboratory-based surveillance in geographic regions where both human and avian influenza viruses are co-circulating," Cidrap reported.

Asked about the finding, Kandun said Indonesia needed to strengthen its surveillance system, including laboratory capacity.

A virologist and microbiologist at Udayana University in Denpasar, I Gusti Ngurah Mahardhika, said the co-infection involving the girl most likely was not the first such case in Indonesia because researchers used to focus only on H5N1 and did not check for the presence of other H viruses.

"Global fear of a new virus from such a co-infection is well grounded, I think. The product of a reassortment between H5N1 and H3N2 can be still in the form of H5N1 but with traits of H3N2. The new H5N1 is virulent and has the capacity to transmit from human to human like H3N2, our seasonal flu virus," he said.

Bird flu blamed for two deaths in Central Java

Suherdjoko , The Jakarta Post , Semarang | Wed, 03/05/2008 2:18 PM

The avian flu scourge claimed several victims in Central Java earlier this year, bringing the death toll to 10 at present, a local health official says.

Of four patients believed to have been infected with the disease, two of them (from Kendal and Sragen) have died, while the others were undergoing treatment at Moewardi Hospital in Surakarta, Central Java Health Office head Hartanto told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

"The condition of the other two patients--both from Klaten--is improving, according to reports I received this afternoon," Hartanto said.

The two dead victims received treatment at Hermina Hospital in Semarang.

"We made concerted efforts to prevent a bird-to-human (virus) transfer by educating the public through the media and brochures.

"The health office has also worked with the United Nations Child Education Fund and provincial husbandry agency to familiarize school children with the dangers of bird flu and its prevention," Hartanto said.

His office distributed Tamiflu drugs to health agencies throughout the province, Hartanto said.

"They will be distributed to community health centers in all regions," he added.

The two patients at Moewardi Hospital were identified as S, 38, and his child IFH, 9.

The two bring the total number of suspected cases of human bird flu infection in the province to 13, ten of which have died.

According to data from the National Commission on Bird Flu (dated Feb. 3, 2008), at a national level there have been 126 cases of humans contracting avian influenza with 103 fatalities, making Indonesia the most bird-flu prone of all countries in the world.

In Central Java, the virus has infected 23 of 35 regencies and mayoralties since 2005, while data from the agricultural ministry shows it has hit 161 regencies across the country.

Despite the ten deaths in Central Java, the province has never conducted mass poultry culls, except of infected birds in Semarang, Boyolali, Magelang, Sragen, Kendal and Demak.

Authorities Monday conducted a cull in Kedungampel village, Klaten, following the confirmed discovery of bird flu infected free-range chickens last week, when many chickens died abruptly.

Subsequently, two residents believed to be infected by the virus were taken for treatment at Moewardi Hospital.

Central Java Husbandry Agency head Kusmaningsih said mass culls were based on directives.

"If we cull the entire poultry population, it would have an adverse impact on farmers breeding healthy chickens, especially during harsh times like these," Kusmaningsih said, "so we must cull the birds selectively."

Bird flu virus usually spreads during the rainy season, he added.

In fact, the H5N1 strain dies when exposed to sunlight or heat for any extended period, Kusmaningsih said. However, the virus could reappear in damp conditions, like the current rainy season, he said.

"We have urged rural authorities to distribute information on the risks of bird flu. Everyone must have a clean lifestyle," Kusmaningsih added.

The provincial husbandry agency has so far provided 16 million doses of locally-produced bird flu vaccine and 8,000 liters of disinfectant to poultry farmers.

Bandung Zoo immunizes birds

The Jakarta Post

BANDUNG, West Java: The Bandung Zoo on Tuesday vaccinated some 700 various species of poultry in its collection to prevent the spread of bird flu, especially to visitors.

The zoo's animal care head Fathul Bahri said the birds were vaccinated once every four months.

"This is the eighth time we have vaccinated the birds since 2005," Bahri told reporters in Bandung on Tuesday.

Bahri said the Bandung Agricultural Office provided the H5N1 virus vaccines, adding the zoo kept 105 species of birds which were placed in 10 different enclosures.

He added that thus far the vaccination program had proven effective because none of the birds had abruptly died or been detected with the virus.

Bird flu kills 3-year-old boy in Indonesia, second case reported in one day

The Jakarta Post

JAKARTA (AP): Bird flu killed a 3-year-old boy and ateenager in Indonesia, the health ministry announced, bringing the country's death toll from the disease to 105.

The latest victim was identified only as Han, a 3-year-old boy from the capital, Jakarta, who died Friday at a hospital in the city, radio El-Shinta reported Saturday.

Nyoman Kandun, a senior Health Ministry official, confirmed the report but did not provide details.

Laboratory tests confirmed the boy had the dangerous H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus, Kandun said. It was not clear how he was infected.

Earlier Saturday, the Health Ministry said a 16-year-old Indonesian boy from Central Java province died of bird flu. The boy, whose name was not disclosed, became ill on Feb. 3 with a cough and other respiratory symptoms, according to the Health Ministry's Web other respiratory symptoms, according to the Health Ministry's Web site.

He died a week later in a hospital in the city of Solo, about 450 kilometers southeast of Jakarta, said Sumardi, a ministry spokesman. Like many Indonesians, he goes by one name.

Tests confirmed the teenager had been infected by the H5N1 virus, the ministry's Web site said.

Bird flu kills 16-year-old boy in Indonesia, bringing nation's toll from illness to 104

Herald Tribune, Published: February 16, 2008

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP): A 16-year-old Indonesian boy has died of bird flu, bringing the nation's death toll from the illness to 104, the Health Ministry said Saturday.

The boy became ill on Feb. 3 with a cough and other respiratory symptoms, according to the Health Ministry's Web site.

He died a week later in a hospital in the city of Solo, about 280 miles southeast of the capital, Jakarta, said Sumardi, a ministry spokesman. Like he many Indonesians, Sumardi goes by one name.

Tests confirmed the boy had been infected with the dangerous H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus, the ministry's Web site said.

The victim's neighbors had sick chickens on their property and the boy apparently slaughtered some of them before he became ill, the ministry said.

Indonesia has regularly recorded human deaths from bird flu since the virus began ravaging poultry stocks across Asia in 2003.

Bird flu remains hard for people to catch, but health experts worry the virus could mutate into a form that passes easily among humans, sparking a pandemic. So far, most human cases have been linked to contact with infected birds.

Scientists have warned that Indonesia, which has millions of backyard chickens and poor medical facilities, is a potential hot spot for a global bird flu pandemic.

More than 225 people have died worldwide from the virus, according to the World Health Organization.

Indonesian girl contracts bird flu in new family cluster: WHO

The Jakarta Post

JAKARTA (AP): The daughter of an Indonesian women whotested positive for bird flu has also contracted the virus, the World Health Organization said Wednesday, in what could be a case of human-to-human transmission.

The 14-year-old girl was in critical condition at a Jakarta hospital, the WHO said on its Web site. The girl's 38-year-old mother has been hospitalized with the bird flu virus since Jan. 26.

"She was exposed to her sick mother... and spent time in a neighborhood where chickens and other birds were found," the WHO statement said, adding the source of infection was still under investigation.

Further tests will be needed to establish whether the daughter contracted the virus from contact with her mother or from an infected chicken or its droppings - the source of most of Indonesia's 103 fatal cases.

Bird flu claims two more victims in RI

The Jakarta Post

JAKARTA (Antara): Two more Indonesians have been infected with H5N1, the bird flu virus. One of them died last Saturday in Jakarta, a Health Ministry official said.

The victims were two women -- Su (29) of Tangerang city, and Sa (38) of West Jakarta, the ministry's spokesperson, S. Sulityowati, said Monday.

"The Health Ministry's Research and Development Agency and the Eijkman Molecular Biology Institute's laboratory confirmed on Monday that the two victims were infected with the bird flu virus," Sulistyowati said.

She said Su, a housewife in Gondrong village, Cipondoh subdistrict, Tangerang city, began to feel ill on Jan. 22 with fever and shortness of breath.

Su was admitted to the Usada Insani hospital on Jan. 28 and was referred to Persahabatan Hospital in East Jakarta the following day.

She died at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 2.

Sa, a female resident of Kalideres village, Jakarta, fell ill on Jan. 24 with coughing, fever, flu and a sore throat.

She was admitted to the MH Thamrin Hospital in Tangerang on Jan. 26 and began to be treated at the Usada Insani hospital on Jan. 29.

Sa was later moved to Persahabatan Hospital in East Jakarta. As of Monday she is breathing with the support of a ventilator.

To date there have been 126 bird flu cases in Indonesia, of which 103 have ended in the patient's death, a fatality rate of 81.7 percent.

Bird flu tricky to contain: Commission

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The spread of bird flu in Jakarta has been much like the spread of dengue fever and tuberculosis, which have been difficult to contain, despite the city's tough bylaw on poultry control, an official said recently.

"This disease, this virus, it's no simple virus... it's like dengue fever or tuberculosis which are still prevalent in this country," Bayu Krisnamurti, chief executive of the National Commission for Avian Influenza Control, told The Jakarta Post over the weekend.

Dengue fever, a mosquito borne disease, claimed 86 lives among 31,682 reported cases in Jakarta last year.

Commenting on the country's bird flu death toll, which is the highest in the world, Bayu said it was "nothing special because bird flu cases are found everywhere".

As many as 101 people died from bird flu out of some 125 reported cases in Indonesia. Other countries with the highest fatalities include Vietnam with 48, Egypt 19 and China and Thailand with 17 each, according to data from the World Health Organization.

Indonesia's latest bird flu victim was a 32-year-old man from Tangerang who died in Persahabatan Hospital, East Jakarta, on Jan. 29.

Jakarta has been the hardest hit city, with 25 deaths resulting from the 29 cases reported, the commission said.

Scientists say the bird flu viral strain could one day mutate and begin transmitting from human to human, with the worst-case scenario being a global pandemic.

Bayu said the commission had done its best to contain a possible outbreak.

"Basically, we are giving it our 100 percent," he said.

Meanwhile, fowls kept as pets can still be found in Jakarta, despite a city bylaw which prohibits residents from keeping chickens, pigeons or quails in their homes.

Salami, head of a Duren Sawit community unit in East Jakarta, told the Post he had just bought a live chicken from a couple in his neighborhood who were keeping it as a pet.

The owners had brought it to his attention because they were afraid it could have bird flu, Salami said.

"I told them they couldn't keep it, and that the government would find out and dispatch it without compensation, but they were still reluctant so I offered to buy and kill it for them," Salami said.

He said the city Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Agency had swept the area for poultry on several occasions.

"They probably just missed this one, hopefully just this one," he said. (anw)

Europe Grants Rp132.3 Billion for Bird Flu

Thursday, 31 January, 2008 | 16:57 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: The World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Community have given a Rp132.3 billion grant for handling bird flu in Indonesia.

The fund will be used to finance a project to prevent bird flu infection from spreading to humans over the next three years.

The project, which is named INSPAI or Implementing the National Strategic Plan for Avian Influenza, is aimed at increasing life expectancy for the people who are infected by the H5N51 bird flu virus.

According to Nyoman Kandung, the Director General of Disease Control and Environment Health Improvement, the project is aimed at increasing clinical management in hospitals, healthy behavior and people's awareness of bird flu.

“Markets will also be worked on, which we call wet market, as it has been found that infection can also come from wet markets,” he said during a press conference with the Vice Chairman of European Community Pierre Phillipe, yesterday (30/1).

This project will be managed by the WHO with the main partners being the Health Department and the National Commission for Bird Flu Handling and Pandemic Influenza Alertness (FPBI), which will have representatives on the Steering Council or officers for monitoring the project.

The Steering Council comprises high officials who represent the Directorate General of Medical Service, the Health Research and Development Agency, the Directorate General of Public Health, the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) and representatives from WHO and the European Community.

Phillipe said he regarded that Indonesia was already serious about handling the bird flu epidemic.

Indications of this are that the government already has good planning and strategy in bird flu handling, although a lot of bird flu cases still occur.

Therefore the European Commission wants to assist the government in applying the strategy.

“This is our reason to give the Indonesian government assistance to fight bird flu,” he said.

AQIDA SWAMURTI

Five Indonesians with bird flu infection go under WHO spotlight

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Five Indonesians who succumbed to bird flu infection have gone under the the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) spotlight, a statement from UN News Center said on Friday.

WHO confirmed that the five Indonesian living in the west of Java, the most populous island in the Asian archipelago, had become the latest human fatalities from avian influenza.

The statement issued by WHO said the five Indonesians - two men, two women and a nine-year old boy - had all succumbed in the past eight days since contracting the H5N1 virus, responsible for outbreaks of bird flu around the world in recent years.

It said 102 of the 124 confirmed bird flu cases in Indonesia have been fatal.

"The South-East Asian nation is one of a handful of countries where the virus is enzootic, which means it is continuously present and being passed among poultry," WHO said.

There have been 357 laboratory-confirmed human cases and 225 deaths worldwide since the H5N1 outbreak began in 2003, with Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, China and Thailand reporting the greatest number of cases.

The most recent death occurred on Thursday, when a 31-year-old woman from East Jakarta died, nine days after being hospitalized. The woman was believed to have visited a wet market where live poultry were sold three days before she started experiencing bird flu symptoms.

In the other cases, a 32-year-old man from Banten province on Java`s western tip died on Tuesday, a 23-year-old woman from East Jakarta died on Sunday, the same day as a nine-year-old boy from West Java, and a 30-year-old man from Banten province also died on 24 January.

Indonesian woman dies of bird flu near capital

Fri Feb 1, 2008 2:11am EST

JAKARTA (Reuters) - An Indonesian woman who lived near a poultry slaughterhouse on the outskirts of the capital has died of bird flu, the health ministry said on Friday, the latest victim in a surge of cases this year.

The woman from Tangerang is the seventh person to die of bird flu in Indonesia this year. Some experts say the flare-up is caused by a combination of several factors such as rainy weather and poor sanitation.

The woman, 31, was being treated at a Jakarta hospital. She died of multiple-organ failure late on Thursday.

"The woman lived in a neighborhood full of fowl. A slaughterhouse is not so far from her house," Muhammad Nadirin of the bird flu centre told Reuters.

It remains unclear how she contracted the bird flu virus.

Her death brings the country's death toll to 102, the highest of any nation.

Contact with sick fowl is the most common way of contracting bird flu, endemic in bird populations in most of Indonesia.

Although bird flu remains an animal disease, experts fear the H5N1 virus could mutate into a form easily passed from human to human. Millions of people could die because they would have no immunity to the new strain.

Not including the latest death, bird flu has killed 224 people in a dozen countries since late 2003, the World Health Organisation says.

(Reporting by Mita Valina Liem; Editing by Sugita Katyal and David Fogarty)

Indonesia bird flu death toll hits 100

Mon Jan 28, 2008 8:49am EST

JAKARTA (Reuters) - A 23-year-old Indonesian woman from East Jakarta has died from bird flu, taking the country's death toll to 100, according to a report from Indonesia's bird flu information centre on Monday.

The woman died on Sunday and two separate laboratory tests confirmed she contracted H5N1, the report said.

Earlier on Monday, a 9-year-old Indonesian boy who had tested positive for bird flu died, the health ministry said in a statement.

The boy from the outskirts of Jakarta died at the Sulianto Saroso hospital on Sunday after being treated in different hospitals for two weeks, said Joko Suyono, an official at the ministry's bird flu information centre.

It was not known how the boy contracted the disease.

Indonesia has had the highest number of human deaths from bird flu of any country.

A 31-year-old woman and 32-year-old man hospitalized at Persahabatan hospital for fever and respiratory problems also tested positive for the deadly H5N1 virus on Monday, the ministry said.

According to the statement, the woman lived in East Jakarta near a poultry slaughterhouse that kept many fowl believed to be the source of her H5N1 infection.

The man from Tangerang, west of Jakarta, is believed to have contracted H5N1 from his neighbor's pet doves, the ministry said.

Contact with sick fowl is the most common way of contracting bird flu, endemic in bird populations in most of Indonesia.

Although bird flu remains an animal disease, experts fear the virus could mutate into a form easily passed from human to human and kill millions.

Suyono said there are no obvious explanations for the sudden surge of cases. "We need to carry more tests and investigation first to be really sure."

(Reporting by Mita Valina Liem and Adhityani Arga; Editing by Sara Webb and Jerry Norton)

9-year-old boy dies of bird flu, bringing Indonesia's death toll to 99

The Jakarta Post

JAKARTA (AP): A 9-year-old boy has died of bird flu, bringing Indonesia's death toll from the disease to 99, health officials said Monday.

The boy died Sunday at the Sulianto Saroso Hospital for Infectious Disease in Jakarta, said Ningrum, an official at the Health Ministry's bird flu center.

Tests confirmed the boy had the H5N1 virus, she said, adding that the cause of the infection had yet to be determined.

The boy was from a neighborhood on the southern outskirts of Jakarta. He first developed symptoms on Jan. 16, said Ningrum, who like many Indonesians who uses a single name.

Indonesia has recorded human bird flu deaths regularly since the virus began ravaging poultry stocks across Asia in 2003.

Scientists have warned that Indonesia, which has millions of backyard chickens and poor medical facilities, is a potential hot spot for a global bird flu pandemic.

FAO cooperates with Indonesia to monitor H5N1

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is working with the Indonesian government to implement a program to monitor virus of H5N1, a FAO statement from UN News Center in New York said on Friday.

FAO said that 31 of 33 provinces in Indonesia, one of the countries hit hardest by avian flue, had been infected since 2004 and thus more investigations and better poultry vaccines were needed to fully protect the poultry from the virus in the country.

It warned that despite advances in controlling the virus, recent avian influenza outbreaks in more than one dozen countries revealed that the epidemic remained a global threat.

"Globally, much progress has been achieved in keeping the H5N1 avian influenza virus under control," said Joseph Domenech, FAO`s Chief Veterinary Officer, noting that great strides have been made in the past three years.

He said surveillance, early detection and immediate response efforts have been bolstered and many countries have been able to eliminate avian flu from poultry.

But since last month, Indonesia and 14 other countries - Bangladesh, Benin, China, Egypt, Germany, India, Iran, Israel, Myanmar, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and Viet Nam - have confirmed new outbreaks in poultry, mostly in domestic stocks.

"The H5N1 avian influenza crisis is far from over and remains particularly worrying in Indonesia, Bangladesh and Egypt, where the virus has become deeply entrenched despite major control efforts," Domenech said.

He also cautioned that while H5N1 has not become more contagious to humans, "it could still trigger a human influenza pandemic."

In Bangladesh, nearly one-third of the districts have been infected, and the disease appears to be endemic. Therefore FAO said it is strengthening its presence to help the country bring avian flu under control.

Domenech said that reporting of new outbreaks, disinfection, culling, movement control and farm bio-security must be stepped up in Egypt.

He also observed that a potential change of virus strains needs to be investigated further, and FAO is supporting the Government`s detection, control and communication measures.

With the help of FAO, over 50 countries have been able to bring avian flu under control and eliminate it from poultry.

Indonesia reports 98th bird flu death

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - A 30-year-old man has died of bird flu, the health ministry said Thursday, bringing the toll to 98 in the nation worst hit by the H5N1 virus.

"(The) total number of cumulative avian influenza human cases in Indonesia is 120 with 98 deaths," a release from the ministry's bird flu information centre was quoted by AFP as saying.

Bird flu kills boy, raises death toll to 97

The Jakarta Post

JAKARTA (AP): An boy in Tangerang, Banten has died of bird flu, bringing the country's death toll from the disease to 97, the Health Ministry said Saturday.

The 8-year-old boy Tangerang died early Friday after being treated at the Sulianti Saroso Hospital for Infectious Disease in Jakarta, said Sunan Raja, an official at the ministry's bird flu center.

He said the boy had been admitted to a local hospital on Wednesday, nine days after he developed symptoms of fever and cough.

Raja said laboratory results confirmed that the boy had the H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus.

The boy lived near a poultry slaughterhouse in the Cipondoh neighborhood in the western outskirts of Jakarta, Raja said.

Indonesia has recorded human bird flu deaths regularly since 2003, when the virus began ravaging poultry stocks across Asia.

Scientists have warned that Indonesia, which has millions of backyard chickens and poor medical facilities, is a potential hot spot for a global bird flu pandemic.

Bali to host sixt international AI summit in March 2008

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia`s resort island of Bali will host the Sixth International Bird Flu (Avian Influenza/AI) Summit from March 27 to 28, 2008, the event`s organizers said in a statement.

Top leaders and key decision-makers of major companies representing a broad range of industries will meet with noted scientists, public health officials, law enforcers, and other experts to discuss pandemic prevention, preparedness, responses and recovery of bird flu at the summit, according to a press statement of the Summit`s organizing committee, the US-based New Fields Exhibitions, Inc., on Friday.

The summit`s participants will be able to draw on first-hand best practices to create the solid business continuity plans that their companies and organizations need in order to prepare for, respond to, and survive a pandemic.

The summit would draw on the successes of the five previous summits which featured as speakers distinguished personalities such as Dr. David Nabarro, the United Nations Coordinator for Avian and Human Influenza, Alex Thiermann of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and Dr. Wenqing Zhang of the WHO Epidemic and Pandemic Alert and Response, it said.

Well-known emergency responders, heads of hospitals from around the world, and poultry industry leaders also spoke in previous summits. Included in the list are Adolfo Garcia-Sastre of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, John Thompson of the National Sheriffs Association, Prof. Oleg I. Kiselev of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Anna Thorson of Sweden`s Karolinska Institute and Dr. Bruce Stewart-Brown, Vice President of Food Safety and Quality for Perdue Farms.

Among topics of discussion during the Summit will be Preparing Community Strategies, Local Partnership Participation, Delivery of Vaccine and Anti-viral Medication, National Pandemic Influenza Medical Countermeasures and Benefit-Risk Assessment: Public Health, Industry and Industry Regulated Perspectives.

Bird flu kills teenager, raises death toll to 96

The Jakarta Post

JAKARTA (AP): A 16-year-old girl died from bird flu, the Health Ministry said Tuesday, raising Indonesia's death toll to 96.

The girl, from the town of Bekasi on the eastern outskirts of the capital, Jakarta, developed symptoms on Dec. 30 and had been hospitalized since Jan. 4.

She died on Tuesday and laboratory results showed she had an infection of the H5N1 strain of the virus, the Health Ministry said in a statement.