April 28, 2011

Indonesia reports 18 bird flu outbreaks in Gorontalo province

A total of 18 outbreaks of H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) have been reported in Indonesia, all in the Gorontalo province of northern Sulawesi, a region free of the disease for almost four years.

The veterinary authority sent an Immediate Notification dated April 26 to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).

The report describes 18 outbreaks of HPAI starting between 30 March and 6 April in the region of Gorontalo, all in village flocks. In total, 4,709 birds were affected, and they were all subsequently culled.

The presence of the H5N1 sub-type of the HPAI virus has been confirmed.

The report adds that since the end of March 2011, and with laboratory confirmation by the Disease Investigation Center in Maros, the Gorontalo province is infected with HPAI. Since then, the disease has spread in four districts of Gorontalo province: Gorontalo, Gorontalo municipality, Boalemo, and Bone Bolango.

OIE's Animal Health Information Department added that even though HPAI has been declared endemic in the country by Indonesia in September 2006, the report was still published because it constituted a reoccurrence of the disease in Gorontalo province since June 2007.