Bird flu back in some regions

Zakki P. Hakim, Jakarta

Cases of bird flu have recurred in some parts of previously affected areas in Indonesia, but the government says it has taken measures to prevent the deadly disease from spreading to new areas.

"A week ago, we launched a massive campaign to vaccinate chickens to prevent an event similar to what happened in Thailand and Vietnam," director of animal health at the Ministry of Agriculture Tri Satya Putri Naipospos told The Jakarta Post.

Earlier reports said that Thailand and Vietnam had recently experienced a fresh outbreak of bird flu cases, including some in areas not previously affected. The virus was also found in China.

Starting on July 15, the government, via the Ministry of Agriculture, distributed as many as 300 million doses of vaccine to small and medium-sized poultry farms across the country.

"We aim to establish an immune population, and to reduce both the population that is vulnerable to the disease and the mortality rate. Therefore, even if the virus cannot be totally eliminated from a farm, the chickens will not be affected," she said on the phone, while on her way to Tulungagung regency, East Java.

According to data from the ministry, at least 1,700 chickens have been killed by bird flu in Tulungagung since June.

The ministry also said that some 3,100 chickens in Demak (East Java), Purworejo (Central Java) and Gunung Kidul (Yogyakarta) had died since May.

Tri explained that, based on her preliminary information, chicken farmers in Tulungagung had been negligent in dealing with the virus, failing to follow procedures recommended by the government.

"The farmers (in affected areas) may only restock their poultry after the property has been empty for 30 days following cleaning and sterilization," she said, adding that she received reports that farmers had ignored the recommendation.

Earlier this year, the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu, or avian flu, swept across Asia, ravaging the poultry industry and killing 24 people in Thailand and Vietnam. More than 100 million chickens and ducks across the region were slaughtered to help curb the spread of the disease. That included some 4.7 million chickens in Indonesia, which saw some 95 regencies in 15 provinces affected.

Although the government received in February strong criticism from the international community for responding too slowly to the disease, the problem seemed already to be under control a month later through a combination of mass slaughter, use of vaccines and other measures.

Minister of Agriculture Bungaran Saragih said last month that it would take three years for Indonesia to be totally free of the virus, and warned that the country was still vulnerable to a new outbreak.

Hans Wagner, of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization in Bangkok, said that the Indonesian government should start to control the movement of animals.

"We've seen a slight geographical expansion of the disease, but it's not as dramatic as it was months ago," Wagner told the Associated Press.

"This shows that there is still work to be done in controlling the movement of animals. We believe that has been a factor in the continuous spread of the disease."