Govt rejects UN report on bird flu spread<\/p>\n
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Refuting the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
\nannouncement on Monday, the Ministry of Agriculture asserted on
\nTuesday that avian influenza cases in Indonesia were declining
\nrather than increasing.<\/p>\n
The ministry stated that among the 11 provinces that had
\npreviously reported bird flu cases, five provinces reported zero
\ncases in February, while only 14 regencies were affected, down
\nfrom 51 last month.<\/p>\n
In addition, the total number of chickens dying of bird flu
\ndropped to 1.2 million in January and to 966,000 in February
\nafter reaching the highest level of 1.6 million in December last
\nyear, an official at the ministry told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
\"It is true that West Kalimantan was added to the list
\nrecently, but Banten, Jakarta, West Java, South Kalimantan, and
\nLampung have not reported any cases in February,\" said Tri Satya
\nPutri Naipospos, the Director of Animal Health at the ministry,
\nin response to the FAO report.<\/p>\n
According to data from the ministry, the six provinces that
\nreported bird flu cases in February were Central Java with
\n527,319 cases, Yogyakarta, 31,075 cases, East Java, 65,161 cases,
\nBali, 333,268 cases, Central Kalimantan, 4,279 cases and West
\nKalimantan, 5,770 cases.<\/p>\n
Tri denied that the disease had spread to other areas, such as
\nLombok, Sumbawa, Flores, and West Timor as claimed by the FAO
\nofficial, saying that there had been no reports from local
\nofficials confirming the presence of the disease.<\/p>\n
\"The ministry has ordered all local officials and farm owners
\nto report each bird flu case so it would be impossible for us not
\nto know of any new cases,\" she said.<\/p>\n
A decree from the ministry stipulates that a citizen who
\ndeliberately fails to report a bird flu case will be punished
\nunder Decree No. 15\/1977 on dangerous diseases.<\/p>\n
An official from FAO said on Monday that bird flu cases had
\nbeen spreading and increasing in Indonesia recently because
\ngovernment resources were stretched to the limit, while most
\ncountries experienced a slowdown.<\/p>\n
Tri, however, acknowledged that her ministry lacked the funds
\nand human resources to handle the nationwide outbreak. She
\ncomplained that the small number of veterinarians nationwide made
\nefforts to eradicate the disease even tougher, saying that many
\nregencies had only one or two veterinarians.<\/p>\n
\"Although there was a verbal commitment from both the House of
\nRepresentatives and the Ministry of Finance to allocate Rp 72
\nbillion to import bird flu vaccines, we haven't received any
\nmoney so far,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Tri stated that vaccines had to be imported because many
\nfarmers were skeptical about locally produced vaccine. The
\nfarmers have refused to buy local vaccine.<\/p>\n
As a result, she said, the government had to buy most of the
\nlocal vaccine, and inoculate the chickens on infected farms for
\nfree.<\/p>\n
\"We must inoculate these chickens now otherwise the second
\nround of the epidemic could hit Indonesia in April,\" she warned.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/govt-rejects-un-report-on-bird-flu-spread-1447893297",
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