Breeders get free bird flu vaccine

Breeders get free bird flu vaccine

Suherdjoko, The Jakarta Post, Grobogan

Poultry breeders in Grobogan regency, Central Java, have received
300,000 doses of bird flu vaccine for free after the highly
pathogenic virus killed more than 350 chickens at a poultry farm
in Kranggan Harjo village last week.

"The vaccine has been distributed to the breeders. We have
asked for one million doses but that amount will be provided in
stages," said head of the Grobogan husbandry and fisheries
office, Gembong Murdowo, on Monday.

"We don't want to repeat the same mistake in which 400,000
chickens were killed here in 2003. The moment we were certain
that the virus attacked a farm in Toroh district, we immediately
requested vaccine assistance from the central government," he
added.

Gembong said the distribution of the free vaccine was focused
on five districts considered to be prone to the spread of bird
flu -- Toroh, Grobogan, Penawangan, Karangrayung and Tegowanu.
There are 19 districts in Grobogan.

Speaking to reporters in Grobogan, he said that only layers
were being infected at the moment.

"The incubation period for the virus is 14 days to 20 days.
There is a possibility that chickens bred for their meat had been
infected as well, but may had already been sold before showing
symptoms. The H5NI bird flu virus is not harmful to humans as
long as the meat is well-cooked," Gembon said.

Data from the Ministry of Agriculture shows that during the
August 2003-July 2004 period, at least 8,178,493 poultry died of
bird flu in Central Java.

The date indicated that the total number of poultry deaths
from the epidemic reached a total of 16,237,635 in 16 provinces
throughout the country.

Central Java was the worst province hit by the bird flu. The
total number of poultry throughout the country stands at
242,923,094 as of last month.

Gembong said the bird flu had actually hit Penawangan district
in April this year, in which 750 layers were culled. "However,
the case was not noticed by reporters," he added.

Many poultry farmers in Grobogan were forced to quit their
business due to the bird flu epidemic in 2003. Among the victims
were Gde Komang Sudiarta, a breeder in Grobogan who had 15,000
chickens.

A similar situation also happened to Slamet who had 750
chickens, and Yadi who had 3,000 chickens. The two farmers were
traumatized by the bird flu epidemic and decided to quit the
business.

The carcasses of the dead chickens had been burned to prevent
the virus from spreading.

No Indonesians are reported to have been infected by the
virus, while at least 30 people have died of bird flu in Vietnam
and Thailand since the start of a major outbreak late last year.

Last July, the Indonesian government launched a major
vaccination program to eradicate bird flu which was lingering in
some districts.

Officials said the virus had resurfaced because some farmers
had neglected procedures by using illegal vaccines and restocking
their poultry too early.