February 2, 2007

Indonesian officials find huge numbers of backyard poultry still in Jakarta

Indonesian officials carrying out door-to-door checks in Jakarta to check for backyard poultry found significantly more chickens than they bargained for.

Indonesia recently banned chickens reared in residential homes to curb the spread of bird flu. The country also declared bird flu a national disaster, opening the way for more funds from the state budget to be committed to the fight against bird flu.

Indonesia has suffered the highest human death toll from bird flu with 63 fatalities since June 2005. Five of the six deaths this year were in Jakarta and surrounding areas.

Jakarta governor Sutiyoso decreed that no birds other than licenced pets would be allowed in residential areas of the city from February 1. About 80 percent of pet birds have been given certificates

Estimates put the number of slaughtered birds at 100,000 so far, but there could be more than one million birds still in Jakarta.

Sutiyoso admitted huge numbers of birds were found despite the ban coming into effect after residents were given two weeks' notice to kill or eat their birds. He also declined to estimate when the city would be free from backyard poultry.

Indonesia is also moving its poultry breeding farms to a location 50 km south of the city.

Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari said the ban on backyard poultry, currently in Jakarta and eight provinces, would be gradually extended to cover the whole country.