Wet season bad for war on bird flu

Wet season bad for war on bird flu

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

As more people usually fall sick during the rainy season the
opportunity could be there for avian influenza to mutate and
become contagious among humans, a specialist says.

Spokesman and head of avian influenza surveillance at Sulianti
Saroso Hospital Ilham Patu explained that if people with human
flu were infected with bird flu then the two viruses could mutate
into an entirely new form.

"As more people get influenza during the rainy season there is
a greater possibility that people who are already sick will
contract bird flu. We have to be aware of that possibility," he
told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

He said past experience had shown the virus could rapidly
mutate.

"For instance, we never thought that humans could contract the
virus from birds. It was later found that the virus was
transferable to humans through pigs. Much later, we discovered
that the virus could directly infect humans through birds," Patu
said.

He warned people with flu-like symptoms to seek early
treatment and said people who had not taken protective measures
should stay away from birds.

Scientists have warned that continued contact between infected
birds and humans might eventually result in the virus mutating
into a form that could rapidly spread among people, sparking a
pandemic that could kill millions.

The World Health Organization-sanctioned laboratory in Hong
Kong has confirmed 11 bird flu cases in Indonesia, with seven
deaths.

Patu said the most recent fatalities had been two Jakarta
women, identified as Siti Sarah, 16, and Dian Rahmaningrun, 20.

Authorities found chickens and other birds infected with avian
influenza in the neighborhoods of both women.

Subsequently, officials from the Jakarta Husbandry Agency
culled birds and chickens in the neighborhoods to prevent the
spread of the virus.

Head of animal health at the Jakarta Husbandry Agency Adnan
Ahmad said on Saturday that his office would conduct on Monday
tests on birds and chickens in several neighborhoods in Central
Jakarta, North Jakarta, and East Jakarta, to asses the spread of
the virus.

"We will cull birds and chickens in a particular area
immediately after tests have ascertained they are infected with
bird flu. We hope the people will give up their birds voluntarily
as we can't afford to compensate them right now," he told the
Post.