Orangutans infected with hepatitis

Orangutans infected with hepatitis

SAMARINDA, East Kalimantan: The Wanariset Semboja orangutan
conservation center has found 58 of the orangutans it is
currently handling have been infected with hepatitis.

Spokesman for the center Jean Mandala said on Thursday the
orangutans were now receiving treatment and had been isolated
from the rest of the animals. Some of them have been diagnosed as
having hepatitis C.

The Samarinda-based center is home to 183 orangutans which had
been seized during crackdowns on protected species or voluntarily
handed in by their masters.

Mandala said he believed the orangutans had contracted the
virus from their former masters because of their close genetic
link.

He said the orangutans with hepatitis would be released to the
forest after treatment.

Common diseases found in orangutans include tuberculosis, flu
and worms.

Wanariset Semboja has released some 700 orangutans into their
natural habitat since 1990. -- Antara

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JP/4/SCENE

ITB to open school of food supplements

BANDUNG: The Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) plans to
open a new school to produce experts in drugs and cosmetics in
2004.

The institute's rector Kusmayanto Kadiman said on Thursday the
new discipline would replace the current pharmaceutical faculty,
and would involve the schools of biology, physics and chemical
engineering.

Students of the new school will also learn marketing to enable
them to sell drugs and cosmetics, Kusmayanto told a seminar.

He called the new discipline the school of food supplements,
pending an official name.

He anticipated the school would admit 600 students in its
first year.

The new school is badly needed, according to Kusmayanto,
because Indonesia is lagging behind other Asian countries in the
discipline.

An advisor to the Minister of Health Richard Panjaitan
welcomed the proposal, saying it would give a boost to the use of
traditional medicine. -- Antara

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President uninvited to Hindu event
JP/4/SCENE

President not invited to Hindu event

MATARAM, West Nusa Tenggara: Unlike past years, the national
organizing committee of Utsawa Dharma Gita Hindu holy verse
reading contest this year will not invite the President to open
the event.

The decision followed a meeting of the committee presided over
by Governor Harun Al Rasyid, whose province has been named host
of the annual contest.

Harun said President Megawati Soekarnoputri would not be
invited because she failed to turn up to open a Koran reading
contest hosted by the province last June.

"If the President is invited and fulfills our invitation this
time around, we fear it will spark unwanted consequences," Harun
said.

West Nusa Tenggara is predominantly a Muslim province, with a
minority Hindu population whose ancestors came from the
neighboring island of Bali.

The Utsawa Dharma Gita will take place between Oct. 26 and
Oct. 30, featuring some 500 contestants representing provinces
throughout the country. -- Antara