Anger over slow response on bird flu

Anger over slow response on bird flu

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Already concerned by news reports of bird flu in Greater Jakarta,
the first thing Nana did when dozens of chickens and other birds
began dying in Kampung Gardu, Buaran village, Tangerang, was
contact the local animal husbandry office.

"What really terrified me was that children in my neighborhood
began coming down with fevers at the same time. I am afraid that
bird flu has arrived in my neighborhood. The really frustrating
thing is that officials from the animal husbandry agency did not
respond to my calls," she told The Jakarta Post recently.

After calling the agency several times but failing to get a
response, she gave up and now just hopes for the best.

"I just wanted them to check if the chickens and birds in the
neighborhood were infected with avian influenza, nothing else,"
she told the Post.

Nana is just one of numerous residents in Greater Jakarta who
have accused health officials of ignoring reports from the public
of suspected bird flu cases.

A senior official at the Jakarta Animal Husbandry, Fisheries,
and Maritime Affairs Agency, Adnan Ahmad, said it was impossible
to respond immediately to every report because local animal
husbandry agencies had only three to four veterinarians to cover
an entire regency.

"Tangerang, for instance, has only three veterinarians at its
animal husbandry agency. With the bird flu outbreak, they cannot
cope with all the reports being filed by residents," he told the
Post.

He did acknowledge, however, that several officials at local
animal husbandry agencies in Greater Jakarta had failed to make
bird flu their top priority since the national campaign to
eradicate the disease was launched by President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono in September.

Ahmad said the central government should push local
administrations to prioritize the campaign against bird flu, and
help to improve coordination among the different administrations.

In addition to a lack of veterinarians, many agencies also
complain about conflicting policies issued by the central
government and local administrations regarding the disbursement
of funds to tackle bird flu.

The head of the animal husbandry agency in West Jakarta, Riana
Faiza, said his office had not received any funds from the
central government or any additional funds from the Jakarta
administration.

"We have heard the government has been allocating money to
local administrations to deal with bird flu for the last several
months, but we have not received any money. Now we are expected
to do more work on the same budget," she said.

Riana said her office was working to prevent the spread of
bird flu through information campaigns, the spraying of
disinfectant and selectively culling chickens and other birds.

She said her office had culled dozens of infected birds and
chickens in several districts, but had been unable to compensate
the owners because of budget constraints.

Adnan said his office had found infected birds in every
municipality in Jakarta and had culled hundreds of fowl.

The World Health Organization-sanctioned laboratory in Hong
Kong has confirmed 12 cases of bird flu in humans in Indonesia,
which have resulted in seven deaths.