January 16, 2007

Indonesia to ban backyard poultry to fight bird flu

Indonesia is preparing to ban backyard poultry farming in the fight to have bird flu under control after the disease killed four people last week, officials said.

Last week's fatalities raised Indonesia's death toll from the virus to 61, the highest in the world. Almost all bird flu cases occurred after contact with infected poultry.

Declaring the situation as a state of health emergency, Aburizal Bakrie, the coordinating minister for people's welfare, said he hopes humans would be better protected if birds and humans are separated.

Bakrie was speaking after a meeting between ministers and the heads of the Jakarta, West Java and Banten regions, which have been worst-hit by the H5N1 virus.

Backyard farmers have resisted efforts to get them to hand over their sick or potentially infected birds for slaughter, thus obstructing efforts from Indonesian authorities to stop bird flu from spreading.

Most victims of bird flu had had contact with poultry around their houses and not from birds from commercial farms, Health Minister Siti Fadillah Supari pointed out

World Health Organization representative Georg Petersen welcomed the move, saying that to separate birds and humans would be beneficial towards efforts at curbing bird flu.

Regulations banning backyard poultry would be introduced in the three worst-hit regions.

Even so, they would have to be implemented by regional governments, which have authority over local farming and fishing.