W. Java officials paly down bird flu risk

Yuli Tri Suwarni and Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post, Bandung/Cirebon

Fears of a possible bird flu outbreak in West Java were played down by an official on Thursday, who gave assurances that all infected chickens had been cremated and buried to prevent further outbreaks.

The head of farm animal health at the West Java Animal Husbandry Office, Musni Suatmodjo, said that all chicken farms in West Java were clear of bird flu and not a single case had been reported in the last two weeks.

"We have been conducting a vaccination campaign in the affected areas. We are also encouraging biosecurity measures to ensure no more cases," he told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

Bird flu has reportedly spread to the province's five regencies and municipalities: Cirebon regency and municipality, Indramayu regency, Subang regency and Sukabumi regency. Cirebon municipality has had the largest number of reported cases of bird flu.

The way poultry is raised in Asia -- usually around the house and free to wander among other animals -- has been partly blamed for the spread of bird flu. Prevention requires the implementation of biosecurity measures, everything from building closed chicken sheds and erecting bird netting to chemical baths and vaccines. Farmers are also required to shield themselves from infection, such as by wearing masks.

Musni gave assurances there would be no more cases of bird flu in West Java as poultry farmers would obey the guidelines.

Last year, bird flu hit more than 10 areas in the province, killing 1.6 million, or 25.3 percent, out of its 6 million chickens.

National Poultry Breeders Association chairman Heri Dermawan said he had heard nothing about the reemergence of bird flu in West Java, but said that he believed that farmers had been careful to prevent the spread of the disease.

"Many farmers have adhered to the biosecurity measures ... if their chickens are affected, it is they who suffer most," Heri said.

He added that if bird flu had reemerged, it was most likely on small-scale farms that paid less attention to biosecurity measures.

Based on Food and Agriculture Organization estimates, bird flu cost Asian farmers and agricultural industries US$10 billion in 2004.

In the West Java town of Cirebon, however, at least 33,000 quails are reported to have died of bird flu.

The worst hit farms were those owned by M. Alie Abubakar and Mas'ud, with the two losing 10,000 and 23,000 quails respectively.

Alie Abubakar, who is also the chairman of the Indonesian Poultry Breeders Association, said there were five farms in Cirebon municipality, but only two were big ones.

"These two farms have been bankrupted by bird flu. Mine and Mas'ud's farm. We haven't received reports from the other farms, but we estimate losses at hundreds of millions of rupiah," he told reporters on Thursday.

He said the quails were confirmed to have died of bird flu following laboratory tests at the Jatiwangi Animal Health Laboratory, which is run by the West Java Animal Husbandry Office. Based on pathology and virology tests conducted by the lab last month, the quails definitely died of avian influenza, or bird flu as it is better known.

Fifteen subtypes of influenza virus are known to infect birds but, to date, all outbreaks of the highly pathogenic form have been caused by influenza A viruses of subtypes H5 and H7.

Alie expressed his disappointment with the government for its slow reaction in dealing with bird flu, saying the cause of death of the quails would not have become known if the breeders had not had the tests done.

"Once we learned they had died of bird flu, we immediately destroyed the rest of the quails voluntarily. The government only became aware of the cases after we reported them," he said.

Head of the animal husbandry division at Cirebon's Agriculture and Marine Office, Maharani Dewi, claimed that these cases of bird flu were the first ever in the city. She said that no cases had been found in the municipality last year.