Government on alert over possible human avian flu

Andi Hajramurni, The Jakarta Post, Makassar/Jakarta

After the latest bird flu outbreak in South Sulawesi, the Ministry of Health is intensifying surveillance in case of human infection by the pathogenic virus in the province, officials have said.

Last week, the ministry was reported to have sent six specimens from poultry workers in South Sulawesi, with suspected bird flu infection, for laboratory tests in Hong Kong.

Earlier, at least 77 more samples had been sent in March and April for similar tests in Hong Kong.

"We sent some blood samples of farm workers from the regencies of Sidenreng Rappang, Pinrang, Wajo, Maros and Soppeng," South Sulawesi health office head Muhadir confirmed on Wednesday.

South Sulawesi was hit by avian flu in March. Tests on chickens found dead in the five regencies showed that the poultry was infected with the H5N1 strain of bird flu, which allegedly spread from West Java, where the first case was discovered last year.

Despite the bird flu outbreak, there were no confirmed cases of human infection in Indonesia. According to WHO representative Georg Petersen, the H5N1 virus can infect humans.

"We are sending blood serum from workers with a high possibility of having contact with infected animals as a zero surveillance procedure," the health ministry's director general for communicable diseases, Umar Fahmi Achmadi, told The Jakarta Post.

He denied that the samples were sent for a laboratory test because they suspected the workers had contracted human avian flu.

However, the ministry's handbook on avian flu states that specimens are taken for testing only from probable bird flu cases, which it defines as suspected cases.

Ministry of Health director for eradication of diseases transmitted by animals Hariadi Wibisono claimed that specimens could also be taken as a necessary precautionary procedure.

"We have sent 77 samples, plus the six others, and are still waiting for the results," he said, adding that it would take between two and four weeks to obtain lab results from Hong Kong.

The samples, he said, were taken from workers with the highest risk of getting infected. "We consider those with high intensity of contact with infected animals, long working hours and those who live near poultry farms as people with a high risk of infection."

Hariadi said that his office had been intensifying bird flu monitoring in South Sulawesi after the outbreak in March, by monitoring clinical symptoms in local hospitals and health centers as well as conducting campaigns on safety procedures for poultry workers, such as the use of masks and disinfectant sprays after entering livestock areas.

Currently, the Veterinary Research Agency has only developed vaccines for poultry, as the development of a vaccine for humans is still difficult.

Despite the difficulties and lack of research on the development of avian flu vaccines that could be used on humans, safeguards can still be taken by minimizing direct contact with animals that could have been infected.

The World Health Organization said in its website that people who ate chicken should not worry about getting infected. If the meat is cooked properly, the avian flu virus will be killed as it cannot survive at high temperatures. (003)