Bird flu outbreak: Is it time to panic?<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Something approaching panic seems to be taking hold across the
\ncountry as the perception emerges that the bird flu outbreak is
\nsteadily getting out of control.<\/p>\n
Chicken and duck breeders have been hit hardest by the
\noutbreak as demand for fowl plummets.<\/p>\n
\"Only a few people bought my free-range chickens today,
\nalthough I tried to convince everybody that they are all
\nhealthy,\" said Ali Murtadho, a trader in Kediri, East Java.<\/p>\n
Some Jakarta housewives said they had trouble sleeping since
\nthe government issued health warnings and shut down Ragunan Zoo
\nin South Jakarta after some birds tested positive for the virus.<\/p>\n
Some residents in Jakarta and East Java have released or sold
\ntheir pet birds and chickens for fear of contracting the virus,
\nwhich has killed four people in the country in the last three
\nmonths.<\/p>\n
In the East Kalimantan capital of Samarinda, even a cat was
\nvaccinated as Governor Suwarna Abdul Fatah launched a campaign to
\nraise public awareness of the outbreak.<\/p>\n
As the number of people being treated for suspected bird flu
\ninfections rose to six on Tuesday, the government admitted to a
\nlack of coordination and money in its efforts to tackle the
\nvirus.<\/p>\n
Biosecurity measures intended to quarantine infected areas
\nhave proved to be ineffective as poultry producing areas here are
\nwidely dispersed, making it difficult for the government to fully
\napply the necessary steps, a minister said.<\/p>\n
\"We admit that the outbreak is difficult to contain as its
\nsource is still unclear,\" said Minister of Agriculture Anton
\nApriyantono after a meeting with President Susilo Bambang
\nYudhoyono.<\/p>\n
The meeting was held specifically to discuss ways of
\nresponding to the bird flu outbreak. Also attending were
\nCoordinating Minister for People's Welfare Alwi Shihab, Minister
\nof Health Siti Fadila Supari and Jakarta governor Sutiyoso.<\/p>\n
Anton said bird flu outbreaks in other countries could be
\ncontained easily as poultry farms were concentrated in certain
\nareas.<\/p>\n
The government, he said, planned a mass cull to control the
\nspread of the deadly virus and has proposed that the House of
\nRepresentatives approve another Rp 82.5 billion (US$8.42 million)
\nto finance biosecurity measures and compensate breeders.<\/p>\n
This proposal is lower than the Rp 300 billion initially
\nsought by the government for such measures.<\/p>\n
During the meeting, the government also agreed to declare a
\nregion \"highly infected\" if 20 percent of its poultry population
\nwas found to be infected.<\/p>\n
Anton said that a more dangerous situation could arise if the
\nvirus was spread by migrating wild birds.<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Health hinted earlier that the outbreak was
\ncaused by migrating birds from overseas.<\/p>\n
As of Tuesday, the government was still unable to determine
\nhow the four people who died of bird flu had contracted the
\nvirus. The government has given up on its attempts to seek the
\ncause for the first three deaths.<\/p>\n
After the Cabinet meeting, Alwi called on people not to panic.<\/p>\n
\"The public should not panic as compared to other
\ncountries, such as Vietnam and Thailand, bird flu in Indonesia
\nhas claimed fewer lives,\" he told a press conference.<\/p>\n
Georg Petersen, the World Health Organization's
\nrepresentative in Indonesia, welcomed Indonesia's efforts and
\nsaid it was not easy to contain a disease like bird flu in a
\ndeveloping country of 212 million people.<\/p>\n
He called it \"a serious situation\" and said the H5N1 virus was
\nwidespread in Indonesia's poultry population, AFP reported.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/bird-flu-outbreak-is-it-time-to-panic-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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