Bird flu emerges in Grobogan regency

Suherdjoko, The Jakarta Post, Semarang

Bird flu has resurfaced in Indonesia, this time at an animal husbandry in Grobogan regency, Central Java province.

The head of Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Office at the Grobogan government, Gembong Murdowo, said the bird flu case was discovered last week at a chicken farm belonging to Suwarto of Kranggan Harjo subdistrict, Toroh district.

After hearing reports that the farm's entire stock of 350 chickens were found dead, the office immediately sent the sample of the dead chickens to the Pathology Laboratory at Yogyakarta's Gadjah Mada University, he said.

Laboratory test results, received by the office on Sept. 29, showed that the chickens had died after contracting avian influenza, or bird flu.

"The bird flu virus was of the H5N1 strain," said Gembong, referring to the cross-species strain harmful to humans.

He said the carcasses of the 350 chickens had been cremated in order to prevent the virus from spreading to chickens or humans. The office has also ordered Suwarto not to breed any new stock at his farm for the next one to three months to ensure that the virus had completely disappeared from the area.

To other chicken breeders in Grobogan, the office has recommended that they vaccinate their chickens against bird flu.

Gembong also urged breeders to maintain biosecurity, including keeping the coops warm and clean, and immediately isolating sick or symptomatic chicken from others.

Grobogan regency currently has a stock of 1.4 million chickens.

Gembong said bird flu disease was nothing new for breeders in the regency, as the disease had also struck its chickens last year and caused the deaths of 400,000 fowl.

Data at the Central Java Animal Husbandry Office shows that bird flu hit 17 of 35 regencies in Central Java province from August 2003 to January 2004, during which some 600,000 chickens died of the disease.