10m chickens to be culled

10m chickens to be culled

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Around 10 million chickens will be culled to stop the spread of
bird flu in the country, which is predicted will completely
subside in six months.

Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla said on
Thursday the mass slaughter of chickens would be completed in
three months, but the compensation would only be distributed as
soon as the country is declared free from the outbreak.

"We have calculated at least 10 million chickens will be
culled. It is expected everything will be under control in six
months," Kalla said before attending a Cabinet meeting.

President Megawati Soekarnoputri ordered a selective cull last
week, bowing to the recommendation of the World Health
Organization (WHO). Indonesia had previously insisted on
vaccination as a preventive measure for the spread of the virus.

In an about face, world health experts on Thursday recommended
that a poultry vaccination campaign be launched to create buffer
zones to control the spread of the bird flu epidemic, Reuters
reported.

"Vaccinations can be used to create a buffer zone around an
infected province or between an affected country and one that is
not," top UN food agency official Louise Fresco told a news
conference after two days of urgent talks with about 40 animal
and human health experts in Rome.

Scientists will hold an emergency regional meeting in Thailand
at the end of this month to coordinate implementation of the
recommendations, according to the Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO), which hosted the Rome talks.

The Indonesian government has confirmed that the H5NI virus,
which has claimed 17 lives in Thailand and Vietnam, is the one
that killed millions of chickens here.

Kalla said the farmers were required to burn and then bury the
infected chickens to ensure that the flu would not spread
further.

"It is selective, but in the case where in one cage some are
sick and some not, the farmers are required to slaughter them
all," the minister said.

The first massive cull will be conducted in Tabanan regency of
Bali, one of the worst infected areas, on Friday, to be witnessed
by Bali Governor I Made Dewa Beratha.

A total of 51 regencies in 10 provinces have been affected by
the outbreak.

As for compensation, the government will replace each chicken
with a newly hatched chick and provide animal feed for the
farmers.

"Such compensation may not offset the loss suffered by the
farmers, but we all should share the burden," Kalla said.

The Ministry of Health and Ministry of Agriculture had taken
blood samples of poultry farm workers in the 10 infected
provinces in the country, but none of them tested positive.

Kalla said, however, the government had asked farmers to take
bio-security precautionary steps to anticipate possible transfer
of the disease to humans.

Farmers and their workers are required to wear gloves and wash
their hands carefully with disinfectant after handling chickens
or chicken cages. They are also required to limit the number of
people who feed and care for the chickens and list their names.

"We will also continue providing vaccine for the chickens, and
we hope to finish the job in three months," the minister added.

The government has allocated some Rp 212 billion
(US$23.8million) to deal with the outbreak, Rp 50 billion of the
fund will be spent on compensation, vaccine and animal feed for
farmers.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Agriculture issued an import ban on
poultry products from 10 infected countries, effective as of
Thursday.

Chief of the agriculture ministry quarantine agency Budi
Triakoso said the ban would affect products from Japan, South
Korea, Vietnam, Hong Kong, China, Laos, Taiwan, Thailand,
Pakistan and Cambodia.