Bird flu virus hits W. Nusa Tenggara

Bird flu virus hits W. Nusa Tenggara

Luh Putu Trisna Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Mataram

Bird flu has broken out in several parts of West Nusa Tenggara
(NTB), killing thousands of birds in the provincial capital of
Mataram.

The Mataram agriculture and animal husbandry office said that
more than 20,000 birds, or 43 percent of the poultry population
in 10 out of the 23 subdistricts in the city, had been infected
by the Avian Influenza virus.

"Currently, bird flu cases are common here. Generally, the
birds infected by the virus have died as there is no cure for the
disease," Mataram animal husbandry office veterinarian Dian
Diatmiko said.

The outbreak was less severe in the other 13 subdistricts,
where about 10 percent of the total poultry population was
affected.

Dian said the bird flu virus had only attacked free-range
poultry in those areas.

"The virus has only attacked free-range chickens, ducks,
geese, pigeons and Manila ducks, but it has spared chickens
raised for their meat," he said on Friday.

Dian added that it was the first time that bird flu had hit
Mataram this year.

The virus was believed to have been introduced by poultry from
outside West Nusa Tenggara, especially from the neighboring
island of Bali. Poultry from Bali was free to enter West Nusa
Tenggara before the provincial administration issued a ban.

Besides being introduced by poultry, Dian said, the virus
could also have been carried by birds from Sulawesi.

The Mataram agriculture and animal husbandry office only
declared an alert early this month over the spread of the virus,
though domestic fowl were believed to have been infected by the
virus since last September.

To prevent the virus from spreading further, the local
husbandry office is providing 250,000 doses of the A1 type
vaccine for free, Dian said.

He acknowledged that the current rainy season would worsen the
spread of bird flu as the virus could survive longer in the open
air when temperatures are lower and the soil more moist.

"Therefore, we are planning a mass vaccination program," he
said.

However, there have been no reports that the virus has
infected human beings in Mataram, Dian added.

"The virus, carried in the droppings of infected birds, can
infect humans. It's advisable that a person who is suffering from
human flu stays away from infected birds because an exchange
between human flu and bird flu would cause a mutation of the flu
viruses, and this would create a new mutant virus, which would be
even more dangerous," he warned.

Earlier this year, a major bird flu outbreak occurred in Java,
killing hundreds of thousands of chickens and other birds.