The bird flu scare<\/p>\n
After months of keeping silent, the government finally
\nadmitted during the weekend that the millions of chickens that
\nhad died in Java, Bali and several other parts of the country in
\nthe past few months had perished of bird flu -- the feared avian
\ninfluenza that could also be fatal to humans, as several cases in
\nChina, Vietnam, Korea and elsewhere have shown. On the island of
\nJava alone, about 10 million birds are estimated to have died of
\nthe disease since October last year.<\/p>\n
But why the months of official silence?<\/p>\n
Sofjan Sudardjat, Director General for the Development of
\nAnimal Husbandry at the Ministry of Agriculture, has this
\npossible explanation: Between September and November of last
\nyear, the outbreak was already widespread. However, there was no
\nevidence that the disease had spread to humans. In the months
\nsince September, some 4.7 million hens have died, at least 400
\nfarms have been affected, and several people in Vietnam and
\nelsewhere have died. But Vietnam, China and Korea seem a safe
\ndistance away. Furthermore, at least in the eyes of scientists
\nand officials, Indonesians can take comfort in the knowledge that
\nthey are more or less immune to the disease, being racially
\ncloser to the African races than the Mongoloid, who seem to be
\nmore susceptible to the avian flu virus.<\/p>\n
Be that as it may, the authorities began taking the public
\nhealth hazard posed by this latest epidemic seriously, only after
\nthe East Java chapter of the Indonesian Association of
\nVeterinarians (PDHI) confirmed that the deaths of millions of
\nlayer hens in East Java and several other areas of the country
\nwere caused by the bird flu virus. That statement effectively
\nshot down the government's attestations that the birds died of
\nNewcastle disease, which is usually fatal to chickens, but
\nharmless to humans.<\/p>\n
In the final analysis, of course, the government's silence on
\nthe matter appears incomprehensible and irresponsible, to put it
\nmildly. It also tends to give rise to speculations and conspiracy
\ntheories that may be farfetched, even sinister, yet cannot be
\neasily refuted. Marthen Malole, a veterinarian researcher at the
\nBogor Institute of Agriculture, for example, said that the
\ngovernment had refused to make the disease public because of
\npressure from certain multinational companies that feared their
\noperations and exports would be disrupted. In Malole's words,
\n\"the government was prevented from publicly announcing the
\ndisease immediately because of a businessmen's lobby.\"<\/p>\n
The big question that is now on the lips of many lay people
\nand scientists alike is, is the current bird flu outbreak simply
\na disaster in the business sense, or is it the first sign of
\nsomething worse to come? Given the known ability of viruses to
\nmutate, the world may be facing yet another serious pandemic on a
\nscale not seen before. For certain, however, the economic
\nimplications of a possible serious bird flu outbreak should not
\nbe overlooked. Indonesian researchers have confirmed that they
\nhave identified the H5N1 virus, which is harmful to both humans
\nand birds and, according to the WHO, is known to be capable of
\nmutating rapidly.<\/p>\n
In conclusion, there is no time to loose in fighting the
\ncurrent bird flu outbreak in this country with all the means at
\nour disposal. Unfortunately, that may mean the destruction of the
\nstock on hand. But the question is not one of which must be
\nprotected first: businesses or consumers. In the long run, it is
\nby imparting a sense of safety among consumers that the farming
\nbusiness can be ensured a prolonged existence.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/the-bird-flu-scare-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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