The number of bird flu infections has declined over the
past few years, but Indonesia remains the virus’ “hot spot”, as backyard
poultry farms remain the backbone in supplying meat for the population, a
senior health official says.
Rita Kusriastuti, director of
animal-borne infectious disease control at the Health Ministry, said on
Thursday that low figures in bird flu infections did not necessarily mean the
worst was over, as chickens kept by residents in backyard farms had potential
risk factors for transmitting the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus
(H5N1).
“It’s not surprising that up to
now we have had to stay alert on bird flu and even declare our country as a
bird flu “hot spot”, as we haven’t so far managed to implement good husbandry
systems for those chickens,” she told a press briefing, marking the end of the
four-year pilot phase of a bird flu-control project funded by the US and
Singapore governments. The project is slated for termination on Friday.
Most of the country’s
industrial scale poultry breeders apply hygienic practices, such as regularly
disinfecting the chicken coops and applying strict, personal hygiene practices
after contact with the birds.
In contrast, however, backyard
poultry farms often apply less adequate hygiene practices, such as infrequently
disinfecting chicken coops, or placing housed chickens too close to human
settlements. This puts people living in surrounding areas at a higher risk of
viral infection.
“It’s quite difficult for us to
ban such backyard poultry farms, as traditionally, local people across the
country depend on their chickens for their own food source,” Rita said.
World Health Organization (WHO)
data shows that globally, bird flu cases reached 566 incidents with 332 deaths
between 2003 and 2011. In Indonesia alone, during this period, bird flu cases
reached 179, resulting in 147 deaths, which spread across 13 provinces.
The first cases of animals
infected with bird flu in Indonesia were found in Pekalongan regency, Central
Java, and Tangerang regency, Banten, in 2003. Then in June 2005, the virus
infected a man and his child who were living in Serpong, Tangerang, making them
the country’s first human sufferers of the H5N1 infection.
This prompted the signing of an
agreement on bird flu control, which was aimed at creating better influenza
pandemic preparedness in the region. The agreement was signed by the leaders of
three countries: Indonesia, the US and Singapore, in Busan, South Korea, on
Nov. 18, 2005.
The REDI Centre, a pilot
partnership on avian influenza control in Tangerang regency, was set up
according to an agreement between the Indonesian and US governments in Jakarta
on June 6, 2007.
Indonesia experienced its first
deaths from the disease this year, when two children from Bangli regency died
of avian flu in Bali in October. Including these two cases, only nine cases of
human infection from the H5N1 virus have been confirmed so far this year.
Muhammad Azhar, coordinator of
the avian influenza control unit of the directorate general of animal husbandry
and animal health at the Agriculture Ministry, said the H5N1 bird flu infection
in animals has continued to decline since reaching its peak in 2007.
Elly Burhaini Faizal
The Jakarta Post
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