Proper cooking prevents bird flu: WHO
Eva C. Komandjaja and Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Wash your hands before you cook any poultry product and cook it thoroughly at temperatures above 70 degrees Celsius to ensure that it is free of any bird flu virus, says the World Health Organization (WHO).
Bird flu, or avian influenza, is an infectious disease in birds caused by Type A strains of the influenza virus. All birds are susceptible to infection, although some species are more resistant to infection than others.
A WHO investigation has found that close contact with live, infected poultry can cause bird-to-human transmission.
Thus, marketing live poultry directly to consumers and slaughtering chickens at retail outlets -- practices that are commonplace in Indonesia -- should be discouraged, as they might increase the risk of infection.
"Live, healthy chicken can acquire the virus from the carcasses of infected poultry, especially when they are sold together," said Marthen Malole, a researcher at the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB).
WHO reports that birds or chicken that survive infection excrete the virus for at least 10 days, orally and in their feces, and can thus the virus can still be spread at live poultry markets and by migratory birds.
Poor sanitation at poultry markets and chicken stalls are suspected to have contributed to the spread of the virus, as has unhygienic methods of transportation from farms to poultry markets.
People should only eat well-cooked poultry and eggs.
Marthen asked that the public to remain on alert of the bird flu outbreak, as many poultry farmers still sold infected chicken to avoid huge losses.
"When they find their chicken are infected ... they will sell them to market instead of slaughtering them and burning their carcasses," he said.
While WHO has no evidence of human-to-human transmission, it has warned that the bird flu virus has the potential to be more serious than Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) virus, if it mutates into a form that can pass from person to person.
WHO has planned a massive funding appeal next week to help authorities in Asia cull poultry to stamp out the illness and aid farmers, The Associated Press reported.
Currently, Vietnam and Thailand are the only two countries in which bird flu has been found in humans in the current outbreak.
While the Indonesian government has confirmed bird flu cases among poultry, it said no cases have been found as yet in humans.
The first recorded outbreak of bird flu in humans occurred in Hong Kong in 1997, when 18 persons developed the disease. Of these, 12 recovered.
Marius Widjajarta of the Indonesian Health Consumer Empowerment Foundation (YPKKI) urged the government to provide all facts about the outbreak.
"The government should provide data and information to the public, such as what kind of actions it has taken and their results," he said.