October 27, 2005

Indonesian vet students search for bird flu-infected poultry

Indonesia vowed to step up its fight against bird flu Thursday, saying veterinary students would join international health experts in carrying out house-to-house searches for infected backyard chickens.

UN Food and Agriculture experts would train the students, who would be recruited from four major universities, to identify sick birds and alert villagers to the risks of the disease, said Syamsul Bahri, the Ministry of Agriculture's director of animal health.

Details about the campaign - including the number of volunteers, health experts, equipment and funds needed - would be hammered out during a two-day veterinary meeting that opens Friday in the city of Bogor, officials said.

The H5N1 strain of bird flu that has decimated poultry stocks across Southeast Asia since 2003 has also killed more than 60 people - including four in Indonesia in as many months.

The virus was believed to have first appeared in the country at commercial poultry farms, jumping to humans only after it started infecting backyard birds.

Experts are now worried that the virus could mutate into a form that passes easily between people, possibly sparking a pandemic that could kill millions.

Joseph Domenech, the FAO's chief veterinary officer, said many people in Indonesia seemed to be unaware of the risks.

"There still seems to be a lack of awareness in the rural and suburban communities about the threat the virus poses to humans and animals," he said in a statement earlier this week announcing plans for house-to-house searches.

After sick birds were identified, the FAO would decide with Indonesian authorities on control measures such as slaughtering or vaccination, he said.