City sets up team to monitor anthrax

City sets up team to monitor anthrax

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The city administration announced Tuesday it had set up a team to
monitor a possible attack of anthrax, urging residents to be more
alert about the disease following the recent anthrax outbreak in
Bogor.

"We call on people to be cautious about anthrax infections,"
Governor Sutiyoso told reporters at City Hall.

He said he had ordered the City Husbandry, Agriculture and
Forestry Agency to monitor cattle in the city ahead of Idul Adha
(Islamic Day of Sacrifice) which will fall on Feb. 12.

At least seven people from Kedumanggu village, Bogor, have
been infected with anthrax. The seven were believed to have
contracted the disease after eating meat from a goat which
carried the virus.

Bogor, besides other cities in West Java, Central Java and
East Java, is a supplier of goats and cows for Jakarta.

Separately, head of the agency's program and monitoring
division Bambang Basuki said the agency had set up a team
consisting of agency officials and veterinarians from the Bogor
Institute of Agriculture.

"We have inspected several traditional markets here which
provide goats and cows, and have yet to find evidence of the
virus," he said, adding that the team would intensify its
monitoring two weeks before Idul Adha.