FAO confirms decrease in bird flu cases in Indonesia

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

In a clarification of a report issued earlier this week, a Jakarta-based FAO representative said that the number of bird flu cases in Indonesia had been decreasing month by month since November last year, but warned the government to stay alert for any reemerging of the disease.

The number of cases should further decrease in March if the trend continued, Benni H. Sormin, an assistant to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) representative for Indonesia, told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

"If we examine bird flu cases in Indonesia, we can conclude that the number of cases has been decreasing since November last year. What we mean by the disease spreading is that there are new areas that are suspected of having bird flu cases," said Benni.

An FAO official was quoted by Associated Press as saying on Monday that bird flu cases had been spreading and increasing in Indonesia recently as government resources were stretched to the limit, while most other affected countries were experiencing a slowdown.

The FAO also reported that the disease had spread to new areas, such as Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores and West Timor, while stressing that the movement of livestock and livestock products from affected areas to clear zones was a cause for serious concern in Indonesia.

The Indonesian government, through the Ministry of Agriculture, rejected these statements on Tuesday saying that the number of bird flu cases in the country was declining rather than increasing.

The ministry pointed out that of the 11 provinces that had previously reported bird flu cases, five provinces reported zero cases in February, while only 14 regencies were affected, down from 51 in January. The number of birds dying of bird flu had also dropped dramatically.

But the ministry acknowledged that it had limited funds and manpower to combat the disease effectively. No special funds had been allocated so far for the ministry to buy bird flu vaccine although the House of Representatives had previously approved the ministry's request for a Rp 70 billion (US$8.5 million) emergency subvention from the Ministry of Finance.

Benni said that the recent FAO statements were merely a remainder for the Indonesian Government to make every effort to prevent the disease from reemerging in the coming months. He added that the FAO was concerned that the current trend could lead to the government taking it for granted that everything was under control.

"We notice that there is a lack of control over the movement of livestock and products from affected areas to clear zones in many provinces in Indonesia," said Benni.

If these biosecurity efforts were neglected, the disease could attack previously infected areas again in the near future, he warned.