No need to worry about bird flu: GAPMMI<\/p>\n
Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Indonesians should not be overly worried over the outbreak of
\nthe bird flu that has ravaged Asia's poultry industry and
\nreportedly caused 12 people to die of influenza.<\/p>\n
\"We are not importing chickens from Vietnam, South Korea or
\nJapan. Even our chicken imports are very small in number. We
\nimport only frozen chickens from the United States and very few
\nfrom Thailand and Malaysia,\" the chairman of the Indonesian Food
\nand Beverages Association (GAPMMI), Thomas Dharmawan, told The
\nJakarta Post on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
In a region already alarmed by the return of SARS, there has
\nbeen growing concern about the rapid spread of bird flu in
\nVietnam, South Korea and Japan.<\/p>\n
With researchers saying the virus could be introduced by
\nmigrating birds, Thomas -- who in the past ran a cattle and
\npoultry business -- said it was unlikely that chickens in
\nIndonesia would catch the virus because the distance from the
\nabove three countries to here was too great for the birds to fly.<\/p>\n
Separately, the director of community veterinary health of the
\nMinistry of Agriculture, Bachtiar Moerad, told the Post that in
\n1992 the ministry had issued a ban on imports of poultry meat and
\nits products from countries that the World Organization for
\nAnimal Health (OIE) advised against.<\/p>\n
\"The ministerial decree is still valid to this day,\" said
\nBachtiar.<\/p>\n
But according to the OIE web site, the organization has not
\nput Vietnam, South Korea or Japan on its blacklist.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/no-need-to-worry-about-bird-flu-gapmmi-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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