S. Korea donates bird flu kits

S. Korea donates bird flu kits

JAKARTA: South Korea has donated rapid diagnostic kits at a total
value of US$250,000 to Indonesia to diagnose avian influenza in
birds, the South Korean Embassy said in Jakarta.

"The South Korean company Standard Diagnostics Inc. has
donated the Avian Influenza Ag Kit (for 9,000 tests) and H5 Avian
Influenza Kit (for 7,500 tests) to the Indonesian government,"
the embassy said in a press release sent to The Jakarta Post.

The Avian Influenza Ag Kit can detect whether birds are
infected or not within 30 minutes, while the H5 Avian Influenza
Kit is for detecting whether the avian influenza virus is the H5
type or not, the release said.

Many people fear the H5 virus can mutate into a deadly human
strain that could kill millions of people.

"It is hoped that the Indonesian government can easily and
quickly detect 16,500 avian influenza virus cases using the
Korean company's donation," it said.

South Korean Ambassador Lee Sun-jin officially delivered the
diagnostic kits to Minister of Agriculture Anton Apriyantono on
Tuesday. -- JP