Officials cull birds as cases rise

Officials cull birds as cases rise

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

City officials culled scores of birds, including 35 pigeons, in
Sunter Jaya, North Jakarta, on Tuesday, as confirmed human bird
flu cases rose to 10.

Sulianti Saroso Hospital spokesman Ilham Patu said on Tuesday
that the World Health Organization-sanctioned laboratory in Hong
Kong had confirmed that Siti Sarah, 16, had died of bird flu.

"We have a confirmation from Hong Kong that she was infected
with bird flu," he told The Jakarta Post.

Siti died last Sunday days after she was admitted to the Agung
Hospital in Manggarai, South Jakarta.

The announcement brought the number of confirmed human bird
flu cases to 10, including six deaths, since July, when the first
human case was found in Tangerang, Banten.

The number of bird flu cases may go up to 11 as the Ministry
of Health announced on Monday that Dian Rahmaningrum had died of
bird flu last Sunday. Further tests by the WHO-sanctioned
laboratory in Hong Kong were underway.

Jakarta Husbandry Agency officials took blood samples from 50
birds in Sunter Jaya on Monday, after a laboratory test by the
Ministry of Health suggested that Dian Rahmaningrum, who lived
in the neighborhood, died of from avian influenza last Saturday.

At least eight of the birds in the neighborhood tested
positive to the avian influenza virus. Residents within a 200-
meter radius of Dian's house voluntarily gave up their birds to
be slaughtered.

Head of animal health at the agency Ahmad Adnan said that they
decided to kill all birds found within 200 meters of Dian's
house.

Some 35 pigeons, three large turtledoves, two small
turtledoves and one dove were also culled.

"We must kill the birds to prevent the virus from spreading to
other neighborhoods. The owners of those birds voluntarily handed
them over as they said it was for their own safety," Ahmad said,
adding that the government did not compensate the owners.

He said that his office was still conducting checks on other
neighborhoods across the city.

Separately, the North Jakarta Husbandry Office and PT Kalbe
Farma conducted promotional activities and sprayed disinfectant
at the Mandiri Market in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta, to prevent
bird flu from spreading to the area.

The activities were welcomed by most chicken traders in the
market, who said that their sales had dropped since the bird flu
outbreak started in July.

"After the explanation and spraying, we can now convince our
customers that our chicken meat is free from bird flu," Mutia,
one of chicken traders at the market, told the Post.

PT Kalbe Farma's public relations officer Dian Firlia said
that they would continue to assist the husbandry agency to
conduct promotional activities and that they would be spraying
several more markets in the city to prevent the bird flu virus
from spreading.

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Photo caption
JP/Abdul Khalik

Photo caption

BIRD FLU ACTION: Two officials from the North Jakarta Husbandry
Agency slaughter a pigeon before throwing it into a fire. On
Tuesday the agency culled 41 birds in the Sunter Jaya
neighborhood after a local resident died from bird flu. Eight
birds in the area tested positive to the virus.