W. Java officials paly down bird flu risk

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.