August 10, 2016

Indonesia is on track to achieve its goal of being a bird flu-free country by 2020, as the number of cases has gone down from 2,751 in 2007 to just 188 in the first quarter of this year.

As of the first quarter of this year, there have been no cases of avian influenza recorded by the 8,574 small and medium commercial farms in 10 provinces that had received technical supervision and direction from the government, data from the Ministry of Agriculture showed, according to a Jakarta Post news report. 

The agriculture ministry has collaborated with the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation in its effort to eradicate bird flu.

It has conducted surveillances of live bird markets (LBM) in large cities including Greater Jakarta, Surabaya and Medan since 2009. The operations include taking environmental samples from markets selling live poultry or slaughtering poultry on-site.

"LBM surveillance is important to monitor the dynamics of AI viruses", James McGrane, the team leader of the FAO Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases Indonesia, was quoted as saying.

Muhammad Azhar, the coordinator of the avian influenza quick control unit at the agriculture ministry, said bird flu cases have dropped significantly from year to year.

The number of avian influenza cases recorded in 2007 reached 2,751. By 2011, the number dropped to 1,390 cases, according to the agriculture ministry, adding that in the first quarter this year, the number stood at 188.