Humans fowls tested for bird flu

Humans fowls tested for bird flu

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Denpasar

A joint government team conducted on Friday tests on the family
of a girl who recently died after showing symptoms of bird flu.

The move came as veterinary students participating in a
nationwide surveillance program to detect the H5N1 virus in birds
collected more than 18,000 samples on the resort island of Bali.

A team of health workers took blood samples from the family of
16-year-old Siti Sarah in Utan Kayu, East Jakarta, who died on
Nov. 8 in Agung Hospital in Manggarai, South Jakarta.

"Initially, the family refused to undergo tests, but finally
they consented to the examination on Friday morning by a joint
team comprising officials from the Ministry of Health, Ministry
of Agriculture and the Jakarta health and agriculture agencies,"
Ministry of Health spokesman Suprijadi said.

He said 39 specimens from people who had been in close contact
with Siti had been taken from Agung Hospital to the health
ministry's laboratory.

Meanwhile, four more patients with bird flu symptoms were
admitted to the Sulianti Saroso Infectious Diseases Hospital in
North Jakarta. They are residents of Tangerang, Banten.

The new patients bring the number of people hospitalized for
suspected bird flu infection to 48 across the country. The
hospitals are located in Jakarta (18), Banten (15), West Java
(6), Yogyakarta (1), East Java (1), East Kalimantan (1), South
Sulawesi (2) and Lampung (4).

The virus has infected nine people in Indonesia, five of whom
are dead.

In Bali's Sanglah General Hospital, officials said they are
treating a two-month-old baby, who was admitted on Thursday with
avian influenza symptoms.

The hospital confirmed on Friday that the baby, identified by
the initials AMS, was suffering from pneumonia and tested
negative for bird flu.

Ken Wirasandhi of the hospital's public service unit said
however doctors had sent samples, including of the baby's blood,
to Jakarta for verification.

Bali, which has so far reported no bird flu infections in
humans, welcomed on Friday the surveillance effort.

The program, which kicked off on Friday, is aimed at
collecting and analyzing samples taken from over 18,000 poultry
across Bali, West Nusa Tenggara and East Nusa Tenggara.

"This is just an official ceremony, as the program has been
underway since Monday," team coordinator Ngurah Mahardika said.

Takmung village in Klungkung regency, some 40 kilometers east
of Denpasar, was chosen as the venue for the ceremony
due to its brush with bird flu early in 2004.

The outbreak paralyzed the village's economy.

"I lost over 1,600 chickens, it was a very difficult time.
Many farmers went bankrupt and the frustrated ones simply stopped
farming," local farmer I Wayan Supartha recalled.

The surveillance program involves 40 professors and 80
students of Udayana University's school of veterinary science.

The collection of samples will continue until Dec. 15 in 154
villages across Bali and 31 villages in West Nusa Tenggara and
East Nusa Tenggara. Blood and feces samples will be taken from
domestic chickens and ducks, and also from wild, migratory bird
populations.