Bird flu spreading in Makassar, C. Java

Bird flu spreading in Makassar, C. Java

The Jakarta Post, Makassar, Semarang

The government has set aside Rp 750 million (US$83,333) to assist
poultry breeders who have had to destroy their bird flu-infected
flocks in South Sulawesi, and has also set up a Rp 250 million
backup fund.

The Ministry of Agriculture's Director General of Husbandry, HR
Warsito, disclosed the plan in Makassar on Wednesday. Similar
financial assistance, the amount of which has not been disclosed,
had also been earmarked by the Directorate General of Animal
Health.

Warsito said the money would be disbursed once the South Sulawesi
provincial administration submitted a report on the number of
birds that had to be destroyed. The report would be verified to
ensure its accuracy.

"The money is ready but there's a mechanism that has to be
followed. So, maybe the money can be disbursed in two or three
months' time," he said.

The fund, he said, was not intended to fully compensate the
breeders. Consequently, each chicken would be valued at Rp 2,000,
lower that the market price.

Only infected birds have been destroyed so far, with
biosecurity measures, such as vaccination and the routine
spraying of disinfectant, had been instituted to prevent the
remaining birds from becoming infected, he said.

Bird flu, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), is
an infectious disease of birds caused by type A strains of the
influenza virus.

As of Wednesday, bird flu was continuing to spread in South
Sulawesi, affecting around 128,000 chickens so far in four
regencies: Sidenreng Rappang (Sidrap), Wajo, Soppeng and Maros.

The biggest outbreak occurred in Sidrap regency, some 200
kilometers north of Makassar, where the virus has infected
101,400 chickens.

Warsito said there was no problem with the supply of vaccines,
with the ministry having a stock of some 50 million doses of
vaccine ready to be distributed to breeders.

Earlier, the coordinator of the Bird Flu Crisis Center,
Muhammad Kafil, who is also the head of the animal health office
subdivision, had complained of a lack of vaccines. So far, his
office had only received 1.2 million doses of vaccine for some 24
million chickens.

South Sulawesi poultry farmers have estimated their losses
arising out of bird flu at billions of rupiah. The outbreak had
not only hit the farmers but also those who relied on poultry-
derived foodstuffs as people were reluctant to consume chickens
and eggs, despite the fact that prices were plummeting.

Warsito said that both chickens and eggs were safe to consume
and people should not be afraid of becoming infected.

"We've conducted DNA analyses and the strains of the virus in
South Sulawesi and other parts of Indonesia are different from
the strains in Thailand and Hong Kong. Bird flu in Indonesia has
not resulted in bird-to-human transmission. Moreover, the virus
is killed by adequate heating. So, there's no need to be afraid,"
he said.

WHO says that as long as chicken meat and eggs are cooked at
temperatures of above 70 degrees Celsius, they are safe to
consume.

In the Central Java town of Boyolali, thousands of quails have
reportedly died in Klego district over the last 10 days due to a
suspected outbreak of bird flu.

Samples of the dead quails were taken to the Animal Disease
Investigation Bureau in Wates, Yogyakarta, to verify the cause of
death, Boyolali Fisheries and Husbandry Office director Djoko
Waluyo said on Wednesday.

"Around five percent out of a total of about 130,000 quails
have died. The number keeps rising every day. There are strong
indications that the deaths have been caused by bird flu, but to
be sure of the real cause we're still waiting for the results of
the lab tests," Djoko said.

Last year, bird flu killed almost 1.6 million birds, ranging
from quails to chickens, in the regency. That time, it affected
12 out of the regency's 19 districts.

"This year, we have found the disease only in Klego district.
In order to prevent its further spread, we have been spraying
disinfectant at all poultry farms and giving vitamins to healthy
birds," he said.

According to Ministry of Agriculture data, bird flu has killed
16.23 million birds in the country, with 8.17 million of them in
Central Java, the worst-hit province.