February 7, 2007

 

Indonesia stray cats may spread bird flu

 

 

The US embassy warned its citizens to avoid contact with stray cats in Indonesia, saying there had been confirmed reports the animals in the country were able to carry the deadly bird flu virus.

 

This unusual warning came at the end of a posting on the mission's website Wednesday about the risk of the H5N1 virus in general in Indonesia, where the virus is endemic in chickens and has killed more humans than in other nations.

 

"There have been confirmed reports that wild and stray cats have been shown to carry H5N1. While there have been no documented cases of feline-to-human transmission of H5N1, it is important to avoid contact with wild and stray cats," it said.

 

The World Heath Organization was not immediately available to comment on the warning.

 

Last year, South Korea slaughtered wild cats when trying to prevent the spread of a bird flu outbreak in poultry. At the time, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization said the move was highly unusual and "not science based."

 

The embassy said that cats which "reside mainly inside a residence" were not seen to be at risk of catching H5N1.

 

Meanwhile, the Indonesian government and Baxter Healthcare Corp, a unit of US- based Baxter International Inc., have signed a memorandum of understanding Wednesday aimed at future joint cooperation on a human vaccine for H5N1 avian influenza.

 

Under the MOU, Indonesia will provide samples of domestic strains of the H5N1 virus and Baxter will offer technical expertise to produce the vaccine, Indonesia's Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari told reporters at a press briefing, without providing any financial details of the MOU or a timeline for possible vaccine production.

 

A Baxter representative at the MOU signing indicated that actual cooperation on joint vaccine development remains a long way off.

 

"The MOU is a framework to continue negotiations, it's not a contract," said Kim Bush, president of Baxter Healthcare's vaccine unit.