Proper cooking prevents bird flu: WHO<\/p>\n
Eva C. Komandjaja and Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Wash your hands before you cook any poultry product and cook it
\nthoroughly at temperatures above 70 degrees Celsius to ensure
\nthat it is free of any bird flu virus, says the World Health
\nOrganization (WHO).<\/p>\n
Bird flu, or avian influenza, is an infectious disease in
\nbirds caused by Type A strains of the influenza virus. All birds
\nare susceptible to infection, although some species are more
\nresistant to infection than others.<\/p>\n
A WHO investigation has found that close contact with live,
\ninfected poultry can cause bird-to-human transmission.<\/p>\n
Thus, marketing live poultry directly to consumers and
\nslaughtering chickens at retail outlets -- practices that are
\ncommonplace in Indonesia -- should be discouraged, as they might
\nincrease the risk of infection.<\/p>\n
\"Live, healthy chicken can acquire the virus from the
\ncarcasses of infected poultry, especially when they are sold
\ntogether,\" said Marthen Malole, a researcher at the Bogor
\nInstitute of Agriculture (IPB).<\/p>\n
WHO reports that birds or chicken that survive infection
\nexcrete the virus for at least 10 days, orally and in their
\nfeces, and can thus the virus can still be spread at live poultry
\nmarkets and by migratory birds.<\/p>\n
Poor sanitation at poultry markets and chicken stalls are
\nsuspected to have contributed to the spread of the virus, as has
\nunhygienic methods of transportation from farms to poultry
\nmarkets.<\/p>\n
People should only eat well-cooked poultry and eggs.<\/p>\n
Marthen asked that the public to remain on alert of the bird
\nflu outbreak, as many poultry farmers still sold infected chicken
\nto avoid huge losses.<\/p>\n
\"When they find their chicken are infected ... they will sell
\nthem to market instead of slaughtering them and burning their
\ncarcasses,\" he said.<\/p>\n
While WHO has no evidence of human-to-human transmission, it
\nhas warned that the bird flu virus has the potential to be more
\nserious than Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) virus, if
\nit mutates into a form that can pass from person to person.<\/p>\n
WHO has planned a massive funding appeal next week to help
\nauthorities in Asia cull poultry to stamp out the illness and aid
\nfarmers, The Associated Press reported.<\/p>\n
Currently, Vietnam and Thailand are the only two countries in
\nwhich bird flu has been found in humans in the current outbreak.<\/p>\n
While the Indonesian government has confirmed bird flu cases
\namong poultry, it said no cases have been found as yet in humans.<\/p>\n
The first recorded outbreak of bird flu in humans occurred in
\nHong Kong in 1997, when 18 persons developed the disease. Of
\nthese, 12 recovered.<\/p>\n
Marius Widjajarta of the Indonesian Health Consumer
\nEmpowerment Foundation (YPKKI) urged the government to provide
\nall facts about the outbreak.<\/p>\n
\"The government should provide data and information to the
\npublic, such as what kind of actions it has taken and their
\nresults,\" he said.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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