February 24, 2006

Indonesian government urged to adopt zoning system to fight bird flu

The Indonesian government has been urged by a veterinarian on Feb 23 to set up a nationwide zoning system to keep surveillance on bird flu-infected poultry.

Soehadji, a veterinarian speaking at the National Seminar on Animal Health and Food Safety said a zoning system will be more useful than current ad hoc door-to-door checks and irregular culling of infected birds.

He said as H5N1 virus outbreaks were reported in many areas all over Indonesia, the present system is not effective.

Soehadji recommended that in the zoning system, districts should have their own stations to detect and control the outbreaks. Laboratories are also suggested to be set up at each station to follow up on the results of the door-to-door tests.