April 17, 2006

Number of Indonesia bird flu cases worries health experts

A growing number of bird flu cases in Indonesia, both in birds and humans, suggests there is a breakdown somewhere in the country's crackdown on the disease, an expert at the World Organisation for Animal Health said Friday (Apr 14).

While other South-east Asian countries have brought bird flu under control using existing tactics, "something is not working" in Indonesia, Alex Thiermann said.

"The situation needs to be investigated to see what is the exact reason for the continuation of the poultry and the human cases," the expert at the Paris-based organisation said.

The country's geography--with many islands spread out over a vast archipelago-- makes it more difficult to have a clear idea of the situation. If bird flu is localised and not widespread, "it would make it easy to see why have we managed to control it in one part and not the other," Thiermann said in a telephone interview.

"Then you go deeper into it: Are the strategies the same? Is the implementation of the strategy what's failing? Are they all using the same vaccine?" he said.

"It is the responsibility not only of the country but also of the international community, because we need to put a finger where the dike is leaking, and this is certainly one of the areas where the problem has persisted longer than expected," Thiermann said.

The H5N1 virus has killed 109 people in nine countries, mostly in Asia, according to WHO, and has killed or prompted authorities to destroy 200 million birds.