More tests planned for poultry farm workers<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
The government plans to carry out more blood tests on poultry
\nfarm workers from areas considered to be at high risk for the
\ndeadly H5N1 strain of bird flu.<\/p>\n
The secretary at the Directorate General for Communicable
\nDiseases at the health ministry, Syafii Ahmad, said the
\nadditional tests followed laboratory exams of 222 blood and 14
\nnasal liquid samples taken from poultry farm employees in the
\nprovinces of Banten and Bali.<\/p>\n
"The ministry will send sero-survey teams to take blood
\nsamples from poultry farm workers in Riau, West Java, Central
\nJava, East Java and Yogyakarta," he said.<\/p>\n
The government has announced bird flu outbreaks in 51
\nregencies in 10 provinces across the country. The outbreaks have
\nkilled 4.7 million chickens and cost the industry some Rp 7.7
\ntrillion (US$911 million).<\/p>\n
Bird flu, which has spread throughout much of Asia, has killed
\n13 people in Vietnam and seven in Thailand.<\/p>\n
The laboratory tests performed on poultry farm workers in
\nBanten and Bali all came back negative for the virus. The tests
\nwere conducted at the laboratory of the Bogor Institute of
\nAgriculture School of Veterinary Studies in West Java.<\/p>\n
"With the results, we can conclude that so far no bird flu
\ncases in humans have been found in Indonesia," Syafii said.<\/p>\n
The samples included blood taken from Kadek Heri Dharmaputra,
\na three-year-old boy suspected of having been infected with the
\nvirus.<\/p>\n
In Bali, of the 102 blood samples, 28 sera control specimens
\nand eight nasal fluid samples taken from poultry farm workers in
\nTabanan and Karangasem regencies, none tested positive for bird
\nflu.<\/p>\n
Separately, the spokesman for the East Nusa Tenggara
\nadministration, Umbu Saga Anakaka, said the provincial government
\nhad imposed a ban on incoming poultry products from other areas
\nof the country.<\/p>\n
He said the local administration had set up a team to oversee
\nthe poultry trade across the province.<\/p>\n
The head of animal quarantine in the provincial capital of
\nKupang, Umbu Nggiku, said the local administration had seized one
\nton of chicken eggs from East Java since the new regulation was
\nannounced.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/more-tests-planned-for-poultry-farm-workers-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}