New bird flu cases have no effect on poultry market

Zakki P. Hakim, Jakarta

The reemergence of bird flu cases in some parts of the country has not depressed the local poultry market, as consumers seem to be more confident now with the precautionary measures taken by the government, according to an industry expert.

Director of publicly listed poultry company PT Sierad Produce FX Awi Tantra said that the price of chicken remained stable, unlike earlier this year when the first outbreak hit the country.

"The cases are now isolated and localized, unlike during the last outbreak," he told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

The current price of chicken is Rp 8,000 (US$0.89) per kilogram, he pointed out.

In comparison, the price plummeted to around Rp 4,000 per kg when the first outbreak emerged as people avoided eating chicken and eggs due to fears that they might be eating contaminated meat and be infected by the disease.

"We now have a thorough vaccination program and biosecurity measures," he said.

Awi said that the latest cases mainly hit small farmers who have 1,000 chickens at the most on their farms.

"Such a small (chicken) population will have no significant effect on the market," he said.

The Ministry of Agriculture said last week that at least 1,700 chickens had died as a result of avian influenza in Tulungagung regency, East Java, since June. The ministry also reported that 3,100 chickens died in Demak (East Java), Purworejo (Central Java), and Gunung Kidul (Yogyakarta).

All these areas are among the 95 regencies in the country that experienced a bird flu epidemic earlier this year that killed millions of chickens.

Carelessness on the part of farmers has been seen as the main reason for the reoccurrence of avian influenza in previously infected areas, according to the ministry and local poultry industry. Many farmers had tended to neglect the importance of sanitation, which is an important factor in containing the virus. Some of the breeders were also not disciplined in vaccinating the chickens.

But the government has taken measures including distributing 300 million vials of vaccine across the country since the middle of the month.

Meanwhile, chairman of the Association of Indonesian Poultry Breeders Anton J. Supit hopes that the public will not overreact to the reemergence of bird flu as it could eventually affect the poultry market and hurt the income of small farmers.

"It is all about image. People would refrain from eating chicken, and eventually it would reduce consumption," he said.

Anton, however, could not tell whether the current media coverage of the reemergence of bird flu cases here had caused the price of chicken to drop in the market.

He acknowledged, however, that the start of the school year last week had put pressure on the price of chicken as people lessened meat consumption to pay for school fees and other school-related items.

Earlier this year, the deadly H5N1 strain of avian influenza swept across Asia, ravaging the poultry industry and killing 24 people in Thailand and Vietnam. More than 100 million chickens and ducks across the region were culled to help curb the spread of the disease, including some 4.7 million chickens in Indonesia.