October 11, 2010

Bird flu has killed at least 49,000 chickens and ducks in the South Sulawesi province of Indonesia over the past four months, a government official said.

The Head of South Sulawesi Province's animal husbandry office, Murtala Ali, said on Saturday (Oct 9) that he had ordered related authorities in districts and cities to destroy the infected chickens and ducks.

"We have also prohibited the transportation of chickens from infected areas to other places," he said.

The dead chickens and ducks were found in 11 districts and towns, namely Takalar, Makassar, Luwu Timur, Luwu Utara, Soppeng, Pinrang, Parepare, Sidrap, Barru, Bulukumba, and Bone.

Chickens in other 13 districts and towns in South Sulawesi were declared free from the bird flu virus, he said.

Besides destroying the bird flu-infected animals, Ali said his people had intensified the vaccination of chickens, spraying chicken nests, and spreading public awareness campaigns.

Ali said the high rainfall in the province could trigger the spread of bird flu virus to other chickens. Therefore he had ordered related authorities to halt the transportation of chickens from infected areas to elsewhere in the province.

Various parts of Indonesia remain vulnerable to bird flu. The Balikpapan city government had declared a state of bird flu alertness on October 4 following the death of 96 chickens last September.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), avian influenza or "bird flu" is a contagious disease of animals caused by viruses that normally infect only birds and, less commonly, pigs. The WHO has warned that infection with avian influenza viruses could spread very rapidly among the poultry population.

Indonesia has been dealing with bird flu cases since 2005. However, the H5N1 virus is also known to have attacked chickens and birds in other Asian countries, such as Thailand, Cambodia, China, and Vietnam.