Jakarta hopes quick action can stop bird flu spreading
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Jakarta administration says it has launched an all-out effort to prevent a larger outbreak of avian influenza following the confirmation of more cases of bird flu in both humans and birds.
The central government declared on Monday that Jakarta was in an extraordinary condition due to the outbreak.
"Jakarta is now on top alert since no human cases of bird flu have previously occurred here ... We are taking extraordinary measures to contain the outbreak, even if the Ministry of Health has not declared the occurrence an outbreak," said Jakarta Health Agency head Abdul Chalik Masulili.
At least five human infections have been reported in Greater Jakarta: Rini Dina Prasetyaningsih, who died of the virus two weeks ago; F, 9, a close relative of Rini; and three other children, identified as MG, 7, WLS, 2, and R. The four children are now being treated at the Sulianti Saroso communicable diseases hospital in Sunter, North Jakarta.
The administration also temporarily closed down Ragunan Zoo in South Jakarta after it discovered 19 birds there had been infected with avian flu. In addition, it also found two birds on a poultry farm in Cempaka Putih, Central Jakarta, had tested positive for bird flu.
Masulili said "the extraordinary measures" being taken comprised comprehensive surveillance efforts and the location of individuals who had been in recent contact with people suspected of having bird flu.
The administration is providing free medication for residents who exhibit the symptoms of severe influenza and are suspected to have been in contact with people or poultry infected with bird flu.
He said the health agency would soon send a circular to public health centers as well as hospitals across the capital concerning the provision of free treatment for residents with flu-like symptoms.
The agency is preparing detailed measures to contain the bird flu, including a financing scheme, he added.
In a related development, on Monday, South Jakarta Health Agency officials along with officials from the health ministry's laboratory took blood samples from 42 Ragunan Zoo workers who had been in direct contact with birds and pigs in the zoo.
Armida, a doctor from Pasar Minggu Community Health Center said the center had sent one of its patients who suffered from a cough and breathing difficulties to Ragunan to give a blood sample. The 50-year old man is a trader at the zoo.
One-hundred-and-forty-three of the zoo's 500 workers have been identified as having been at high risk of exposure to the H5N1 virus.
Test results will be reported in six days.
Zoo officials will kill four pygmy chickens and treated the other 14 endangered birds in the zoo's isolation room, according to zoo spokeswoman Titi Sari Puntorini.
Ragunan Zoo reported 161,124 visitors this September, with around 50,000 of them visiting last weekend. It also reported a possible loss of more than Rp 500 million as a result of the 21- day closure. (003)