Jakarta opts for selective bird cull
Jakarta opts for selective bird cull
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Jakarta administration plans to introduce selective culls of
birds and chickens in areas where bird flu is detected, an
official said on Thursday.
The head of the animal and husbandry unit at the Jakarta
Husbandry Agency, Adnan Ahmad, said his office had collected over
1,000 samples since July from across the capital to determine the
extent to which the bird flu virus had spread among birds and
chickens in the city.
"We have taken as many samples as we can from across the city.
If we find samples from a certain area test positive for bird
flu, then we will decide which birds and chickens need to be
culled," he told The Jakarta Post.
Adnan said so far only samples from Ragunan Zoo in South
Jakarta, a neighborhood in Cempaka Putih in East Jakarta and a
bird market in Depok had tested positive for bird flu.
He said his office was now focusing on birds and chickens in
those three areas.
"We tested all of the chickens in the areas and then selected
which birds and chickens were to be destroyed. For instance, when
we found that 19 birds in Ragunan Zoo were infected with bird
flu, we isolated them and tested the rest of the animals.
"We decided to treat the rare birds because they are very
expensive. In the end, we only destroyed five birds and were able
to treat the other 14," Adnan said.
He said his office was cooperating with the Ministry of
Agriculture to finance the selective culls.
Adnan said conducting mass culls were not feasible at the
moment, not only because only three samples had tested positive
for bird flu but also because of the huge sums of money that
would be required.
Citing a lack of funds, the government continues to refuse to
conduct mass culls in areas where chickens have been found
infected with bird flu. This despite a recent offer from the
World Bank for money to conduct mass culls.
The international standard for mass culls requires that all
chickens and birds within a radius of three kilometers of an
infected farm be destroyed.
The Ministry of Agriculture has so far allocated just Rp 241
billion (US$24.2 million) to fight bird flu.
The government says it will need at least $130 million to
control the current outbreak of the virus.
Aside from budgetary constraints, bird flu containment in
Indonesia is made more difficult by the fact that many people in
the cities, especially Jakarta, raise chickens and birds in their
backyards.
Adnan said his office had launched an informational program to
teach residents about the importance of keeping all bird cages
clean and of vaccinating their animals.
"Beside bird and chicken markets, we have expanded the program
to numerous neighborhoods. However, we need more resources to
continue the program," he said.
There have been nine confirmed cases of bird flu in humans in
Indonesia, and five of these people have died. Initial tests on a
girl who died last Tuesday indicate she died of bird flu, but
further tests are needed to confirm this.