Cirebon city locked down over bird flu outbreak<\/p>\n
Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post, Cirebon\/Pekanbaru<\/p>\n
Following the uncontrolled spread of bird flu, West Java
\nauthorities have stopped all poultry traffic into the area to
\nprevent the problem from getting worse after the disease hit
\npoultry farms in the province, an official said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The isolation of Cirebon, which has been declared an epidemic
\narea of bird flu in West Java, is expected to prevent a further
\nspread of the disease, which has also hit several other regencies
\nin Central Java.<\/p>\n
The poultry-check operation was held in the Losari area, which
\nis in the border and main route of poultry trucks from Central
\nJava, Yogyakarta and East Java.<\/p>\n
The operation is targeting chickens, quails and ducks coming
\nfrom other affected areas in West Java, such as Sukabumi,
\nIndramayu and Ciamis.<\/p>\n
Head of animal husbandry division at Cirebon's Agriculture and
\nMarine Office, Maharani Dewi, said the provincial administration
\nhad requested the Cirebon city administration to increase control
\nin its border areas to prevent a further spread of bird flu, or
\navian influenza.<\/p>\n
\"The operation has been going on for a week and will end on
\nApril 5. After that we'll evaluate whether to continue or stop
\nthe operation,\" said Maharani.<\/p>\n
She also claimed that since the operation began, no new cases
\nof bird flu, from West Java or outside the province, had been
\nfound.<\/p>\n
Tens of thousands of quails owned by poultry breeders in
\nCirebon city have died as a result of bird flu this year.<\/p>\n
\"The bird flu has put many breeders out of business, with
\nlosses estimated in billions of rupiah,\" she said.<\/p>\n
No bird flu cases were reported in Cirebon last year, when the
\ncountry was hit by another bird flu outbreak.<\/p>\n
Maharani added that the bird flu cases in Cirebon came from
\noutside the city. \"We suspect that bird flu came from another
\ncity because all of the destroyed quails were from Sleman
\n(Yogyakarta),\" Maharani said.<\/p>\n
Riau province meanwhile, which is still reportedly free of
\nbird flu, is on alert of possible entry of infected poultry
\nproducts into the province.<\/p>\n
Head of the Riau husbandry office, Agus Tarudin, said on
\nWednesday that his office had instructed officials across the
\nprovince to stay alert over all poultry products to prevent the
\ndisease from entering the province.<\/p>\n
\"We have also been working together with the quarantine bureau
\nat the airport and seaports to improve control,\" Agus said.<\/p>\n
He said that companies distributing poultry products would be
\nheld responsible if their products were proven to cause bird flu.<\/p>\n
He also praised the Riau people in their response to the bird
\nflu last year. When Riau was hit last year, chicken prices
\nplummeted to Rp 2,500 per kilogram.<\/p>\n
\"People here are not easily influenced by the bird flu scare
\nand still consume chicken or eggs,\" Agus said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/cirebon-city-locked-down-over-bird-flu-outbreak-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}