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.