Bird flu emerges in Grobogan regency

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.