Officials say Jakarta free of bird flu

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

With the government finally conceding that the country is in the grip of an avian influenza (bird flu) outbreak after covering it up for four months, the Jakarta administration is still playing down the possibility of the disease reaching the capital.

"We have not discovered any cases of bird flu here. There's no need to panic or fret. Outbreaks have occurred only in areas that produce poultry, not in areas like Jakarta," said veterinarian Heri Indiyanto, an official with the Jakarta Animal Husbandry Agency, on Monday.

According to Heri, all live poultry entering the city must first pass inspection at a designated slaughterhouse to guarantee it is free of disease.

Should any poultry be found dead upon arrival at the slaughterhouse, the carcass is burned.

"So far chickens have died only because of fatigue and not bird flu," he insisted.

Jakarta Health Agency spokeswoman Evi Zelfino said her office had not received any reports of bird flu in humans.

"The health agency and the animal husbandry agency are working together to warn the public to remain vigilant against the disease. We are spreading the word through our public health centers across the city," she said.

The disease was first discovered here on Aug. 29, 2003, in Pekalongan, Central Java, but the government remained tightlipped until it spread through the country and dealt a severe blow to poultry businesses.

A veterinary researcher at the Bogor Institute of Agriculture, Marthen Malole, alleged that the government's silence was due to pressure from several well-connected poultry businessmen who feared their operations and exports would be disrupted.

Heri said the virus in chicken meat could be rendered harmless if the meat was well cooked at a temperature above 80 Celsius degrees while the virus in chicken eggs died if the eggs were cooked at a temperature above 40 Celsius degrees.

However, the World Health Organization (WHO) suggests people wash their hands before and after cooking poultry products and cook them thoroughly at a temperature above 70 Celsius degrees.

A WHO investigation has found that direct contact with live, infected poultry can result in bird-to-human transmission.

Heri said that his agency was doing more in-depth observation to confirm if the city was free of the virus.

"We hope to announce the result of the observation next week."

Governor Sutiyoso said he had ordered the animal husbandry and health agencies to thoroughly check whether there was any poultry in the city with bird flu.

"I also asked them to check breeding farms here. They must immediately publicly announce the result of their monitoring to calm people down."