JAKARTA KICKS OFF BIRD SWEEPING PROGRAM

By Andi Abdussalam

       Jakarta, Feb 24 (ANTARA)- Jakarta launched on Friday a two-month bird sweeping program to contain the spread of the avian influenza virus (H51N) that has infected some 170 people in at least 19 countries all over the world.

        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 neighborhoods also raise a range of between 300 and 400 backyard birds each, Head of Jakarta Animal Husbandry Office Edi Setiarto said.

        Indonesia, the fourth most populous county with 220 million, has been ranked by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the second largest nation, after Vietnam, affected the 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.

        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 of and choose human life than their fowls, the Jakarta Governor said when he launched the bird sweeping program 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 today, 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.

        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. (T.A014/A/A018/a/a018) (U.C/A014/C/A018) 24-02-2006 11:58:37