March 3, 2005

12,000 chickens killed by bird flu in Indonesia's West Java

It was reported on Thursday that bird flu resurfaced in Indonesia, killing at least 12,000 chickens on farms in West Java over the last two months.

Musni Suatmodjo, the head of farm animal health at the West Java Animal Husbandry Office said, avian influenza, or bird flu, had spread to five regencies and municipalities in the province, according to The Jakarta Post newspaper.

He identified them as Cirebon regency and municipality, Subang regency, Indramayu regency and Sukabumi regency.

Musni said Cirebon municipality had the most reported cases of bird flu, with about 12,000 chickens killed by the H5N1 and H7N1 viruses.

"The affected area is smaller than last year. In early 2004, (the bird flu) spread to 10 areas. We hope to reduce the number of cases this year," he was quoted as saying.

Musni said that last year bird flu was reported in 10 areas in West Java and killed about 1.6 million of 6 million farmed chickens in the province, or 25.3 percent.

He said he was confident this year's bird flu outbreak would be less severe, maybe killing just 10 percent of farmed chickens in the province.

"We have prepared 50 million doses of vaccine to stop the spread of the virus in 2005," he added.