Indonesia launches campaign against bird flu
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Hundreds of Indonesian officials clad in white protective gear and masks fanned out across the capital on Friday to check thousands of fowl as authorities kicked off a door-to-door prevention drive against bird flu.
About 600 inspectors sprayed disinfectant in bird cages and chicken coops in the sprawling city where backyard chickens are common.
Bird flu has killed at least 19 people in Indonesia, the world’s second highest death toll after Vietnam, and many of the victims lived in or around Jakarta, which is estimated to have about 500,000 fowl.
“We need cooperation from the people. In any case, we have to choose our own safety, and the life of the people, rather than fowl, including singing birds,” Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso said.
Officials will slaughter all birds within one kilometre of where infected birds are found during the three-day campaign in Jakarta. Owners will be paid the equivalent of $1 a bird as compensation.
“There is still reluctance to support the movement because of the amount of compensation,” Health Minister Siti Fadillah Supari said.
So far, the government has resisted the mass culling of fowl seen in some other nations, and agencies have concentrated instead on selective culling, as well as public education and hygiene measures aimed at prevention.
As part of the bid to combat bird flu, the government also plans to increase its stocks of the anti-viral drug Tamiflu and step up its distribution to clinics in high-risk areas.
“We plan to have 12 million tablets of Tamiflu this year,” Supari told reporters.
The government’s latest campaign and the possibility of mass culls have raised hackles among some in a country where keeping exotic birds as pets is common.
“They can’t do it (mass cull) because the other birds are healthy,” said Sumadi, a bird seller in Jakarta’s main bird market.
Others welcomed the drive, including residents of a slum in central Jakarta where authorities found one infected dove after taking samples out of hundreds of chickens and doves.
“We have vaccinations once every three months, and routinely clean the cages but if mass culling is necessary then I’ll support it,” said Yadi Asmawi, 53, who owns 35 backyard chickens.
Avian flu has killed at least 92 people worldwide out of 170 infected since 2003. The virus has now spread to fowl in Europe and Africa.
Experts fear the virus will mutate into a form that can move easily between people, triggering a pandemic. Almost all of the known human cases have been people in close contact with infected fowl.
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