Public told to be alert, not panic about bird flu

Public told to be alert, not panic about bird flu

Bambang Nurbianto and Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Tangerang

Breakfast on Wednesday evening might be the last time that
Hariyanto, 35, will enjoy his favorite meal: fried chicken.

"I read the news on the Internet in the afternoon that the
deaths of three people at the Villa Melati Mas housing complex in
Tangerang last week was likely caused by avian flu virus ... they
were infected by chicken meat that they ate," said Hariyanto, a
resident of Pondok Aren village, also in Tangerang regency.

He said he had told his wife never again to serve chicken to
him and their two children.

Hariyanto was referring to media reports that a laboratory in Hong
Kong had confirmed that bird flu virus was found in the blood
samples of Iwan Siswara Rifei, an auditor at the Supreme Audit
Agency (BPK), and his two young daughters.

The first fatal case of the human variant of bird flu has
prompted the government to declare Tangerang a "red zone" and to
start monitoring Villa Melati Mas residents and the
transportation of animals and poultry in and out of the regency.

However, statements from Minister of Health Siti Fadilah
Supari have irked Regent Ismet Iskandar, who said on Thursday
that residents had started to panic, while poultry breeders and
traders were complaining about falling sales.

"The central government should not have rushed to declare
Tangerang an avian influenza red zone. After all, no poultry farm
workers have contracted the disease," Ismet said, adding that
none of the workers used masks or gloves.

"I would call on residents not to panic," he added.

He said he believed that Iwan Siswara had picked up the virus
somewhere outside Tangerang due to his high mobility and the fact
that he was often sent abroad.

Tangerang Regency Farm and Agricultural Agency director Didi
Aswadi said that all poultry in Tangerang was free of bird flu.

He also said that pigs and poultry had not been dying on a
large scale in Legok and Panongan districts because of bird flu
as reported by local media outlets on Wednesday.

"We did find bird flu symptoms in pigs in Legok in 2003 and
2004 while conducting routine examinations, but the pigs were
then culled," he explained.

Didi added that since an early warning system had been put in
place in Tangerang in February this year, all poultry, pets and
pigs had been given vaccinated.

Chicken traders in Jakarta were also complaining about falling
business as a result of the bird flu scare.

"My sales have declined by between 15 percent and 25 percent
in the past four days. Usually, I sell around 100 chickens a day,
but I have only sold around 50 chickens today (up to 2:30 p.m.),"
said Muhammad Zainuri, 50, a trader at Palmerah market, Central
Jakarta.

Hery Indiyanto, the head of the Animal Product Health Division
at the Jakarta Husbandry, Fisheries and Maritime Agency, said on
Thursday that residents could easily avoid being infected by bird
flu.

According to Hery, the avian flu virus dies at a temperature
of 80 degrees Celsius.

"I don't recommend that people avoid eating chicken meat as it
is safe to eat if it is cooked well," he said, adding that the
panic had been caused by a lack understanding about the disease.

He said that most chickens in Jakarta markets came from
Cianjur, Sukabumi, Garut and Purwakarta in West Java, and Solo,
Purwokerto and Yogyakarta in Central Java.

"The chickens are first sent to Lampiri Market in Pulogadung,
East Jakarta, from where they are distributed to all the other
markets. We prevent chickens that are not provided with health
certificates from entering Jakarta."

He said Jakartans consumed some 600,000 chickens per day.