FAO confirms decrease in bird flu cases in Indonesia

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.