March 26, 2008

Indonesia to step up on bird flu prevention program
 

Jakarta and the national bird flu committee intend to step up on its bird flu prevention and control program in the capital, which includes stringent surveillance of the poultry industry.

The program's agenda include the restructuring of the poultry business, regular cleaning of the poultry section at markets, minimising poultry transportation and implementing stricter regulations on live poultry trade, according to Adnan Admad, head of veterinary health at the Jakarta Agriculture, Husbandry and Maritime Agency.

The program also aims to separate poultry from residences, training health workers to handle bird flu cases, launch public information campaigns, prepare for a possible pandemic and to continue the research on bird flu virus and vaccines.

Ahmad said the number of poultry slaughterhouses would be reduced from 2010 onwards, as Jakarta's poultry will be kept and slaughtered at one appointed slaughterhouse in each of the city's five municipalities. Ahmad added that it is important to keep the poultry away from residents so that the bird flu would not spread.

There are currently 259 poultry houses and 1,000 slaughterhouses processing about 400,000 chickens per day for the capital's consumption.

The program is focused on Jakarta as 70 percent of Indonesia's bird flu deaths occurred in the capital and Tangerang, said Bayu Krisna Murthi, chairman of Komnas FBPI.

Murthi said research indicates an additional three new groups of bird flu virus strains in the area, but there is not yet any evidence of their spread.

The bird flu committee estimated financial losses caused by bird flu since 2004 to be around 4.1 trillion rupiah (US$450 million), based on the value of culled poultry, decreasing demand and consumption of poultry and additional losses incurred in order to handle the disease.