October 6, 2006

Bird flu virus in Indonesia shows little mutation

The bird flu virus in Indonesia has not mutated to become more contagious, the country's agriculture ministry said, citing an analysis of virus samples.

Tests on samples taken from birds on the main islands of Sumatra, Java and Bali showed the H5N1 virus has undergone no major changes, the ministry said in a statement today.

The samples were analysed by a World Organization for Animal Health reference laboratory in Australia.

Samples of the H5N1 virus taken from birds were collected between September in 2005 and March, Elly Sawitri, an official at the agriculture ministry's bird flu centre, said. Animal health authorities would soon dispatch samples collected this year for analysis, Sawitri said.

Indonesia agreed to deposit bird flu genetic information in public databases, such as GenBank, four months ago to help scientists better track the virus and to accelerate research for vaccines.

The virus may have infected as much as 27 percent of fowl and caged birds in Indonesia, Musny Suatmodjo, Indonesia's director of animal health said last week.