Don't panic over flu: WHO
Don't panic over flu: WHO
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
World Health Organization (WHO) experts said on Thursday that the increasing number of people showing bird-flu-like symptoms in the country did not mean that the outbreak was becoming worse.
They asserted there was no evidence yet that the virus could be easily passed between people in the country -- a troubling scenario that could lead to a global pandemic that killed millions.
The statements came amid growing anxiety over the rising number of suspected bird flu cases here, after the government earlier warned people of the possibility that the outbreak could become an epidemic. A number of foreign experts are expected to meet with government officials here on Friday to assess the situation.
WHO's representative in Indonesia, Georg Petersen, said that there was as yet no evidence that the H5N1 bird flu strain had mutated into a form that could trigger a pandemic, although he warned that there could be a possible human-to-human transmission of the disease through close contact with an infected person.
"I think very close contact with a sick person might infect that caretaker. That is why in hospitals we need to take all precautions ... That would be, in a way, a human-to-human transmission, but that demands close, close contact," he told Reuters.
The case of a father and his two daughters who died in the Tangerang, Banten, in July might have involved "within-family transmission," Petersen said.
Thailand earlier reported a case of probable human-to-human transmission in September 2004, when a 26-year-old woman died of bird flu after a "prolonged face-to-face exposure" with her daughter, who was also hospitalized with the virus.
Dr Margaret Chan, the WHO global special representative on avian flu, said there was so far no biological evidence for the increased chance of human-to-human transmission.
Neither did a rise in the number of suspected cases point to an epidemic, she said.
"With increased surveillance, it's not unusual that you would pick up more cases."
The WHO last week warned bird flu was moving toward a form that could be passed between humans and the world had no time to waste to prevent a pandemic. Past influenza pandemics have killed millions.
Bird flu has killed four Indonesians since July, and two children who died this week are suspected of having had the disease. Laboratory test results are expected within days, as 13 other patients are under hospital observation.
The government has increased measures to help curb the bird flu outbreak after imposing an extraordinary alert status earlier this week. On Wednesday, the government dismissed the chief of animal health control, announced plans of a mass cull of chickens in highly infected areas, and threatened to hospitalize, by force if necessary, anyone showing symptoms of the disease.
Victims were also promised free medication. Some 10,000 tablets of Tamiflu -- the only treatment so far proven effective against bird flu in humans -- are now available.
So far, most of bird flu victims have been in the Greater Jakarta area. On Thursday, the government said it planned to re- zone poultry farms and slaughterhouses in Jakarta in a bid to stop the spread of the bird flu virus.
"We will rearrange the poultry industry in Indonesia to prevent the passing of zoonotic (animal) diseases from animals to humans," Ministry of Agriculture director-general of poultry, Mathur Riady said.
Chicken traders and farmers in Jakarta have said bird flu fears have sparked a sharp drop in sales.