Infected birds found in seven subdistricts

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Infected birds have been found in seven of 20 subdistricts tested for the avian influenza virus on Monday, city officials said, predicting many more areas would test positive as searches continued.

Jakarta Animal Husbandry, Fisheries and Maritime Affairs Agency official Adnan Ahmad said Wednesday that East Jakarta had the highest cases, with five subdistricts, while North Jakarta and West Jakarta had one infected subdistrict each.

"We haven't conducted tests in all (267 Jakarta) subdistricts. We can only afford to conduct tests in 20 subdistricts and we will conduct more tests in the weeks to come," he told The Jakarta Post.

The agency found dozens of birds with avian influenza in Ceger, Utan Kayu, Pondok Kelapa, Duren Sawit and Cipinang Melayu, all in East Jakarta, and Sunter Jaya and Kapuk in North and West Jakarta respectively.

Adnan said the agency was planning to cull all birds in the infected areas on Friday.

"We don't want to limit the culling to several hundred meters from affected neighborhoods only; we will kill all the birds there to avoid any risks," Adnan said.

He said the city administration would not compensate residents for the culled birds because they had no money.

Adnan said he hoped residents in the affected areas would give up their birds voluntarily as the culling was for their own safety.

So far, the World Health Organization-sanctioned laboratory in Hong Kong has confirmed 11 bird flu cases in Indonesia. Seven people have died from the virus.

The last two cases involved a teenager, Siti Sarah, 16, a resident of Utan Kayu in East Jakarta, and a woman Dian Rahmaningrum, 20, a resident of Sunter Jaya in North Jakarta.

Siti, who died on Nov. 6, and Dian, who died several days later, are both believed to have been infected by sick birds in their neighborhoods.

Later on Wednesday, the West Jakarta branch of the agency culled 12 birds belonged to Selfy, a resident of the Tubagus Angke, Kapuk subdistrict.

Agency head Agus Indardjono said Selfy voluntarily gave up her birds after being told three were suspected to have avian flu.

The agency has vaccinated more than 7,800 chickens and 3,600 other birds in the area to prevent the virus from spreading.