March 25, 2008
 

Indonesia to stop live bird trade in capital to battle flu

Indonesia will ban the trade of live chickens in the capital in 2010 to sharpen the fight against bird flu in world's hardest-hit nation, a livestock official said Monday.

Poultry will have to be killed at government-licensed slaughterhouses outside Jakarta before being transported to the market, Edy Setiarto said, adding that authorities would need two years to prepare regulations and business owners for the changes.

Currently, consumers prefer to buy live chickens, which are then slaughtered to order to ensure the meat is fresh.

Setiarto noted that 70 percent of Indonesia's bird flu cases occur in Jakarta and surrounding districts. Last year, city residents were told they could longer keep backyard chickens, but the order appears to have been largely ignored.

Bird flu has killed at least 236 people, nearly half of them in Indonesia. It remains hard for people to catch, but experts worry the virus could mutate into a form that passes easily among humans, sparking a pandemic.