Don't touch the dead chickens!

Possible bird flu cases in Makassar

Andi Hajramurni and Suherdjoko, The Jakarta Post, Makassar, Semarang

Seven people showing symptoms of bird flu have been admitted to a hospital in Makassar, South Sulawesi.

The patients, most less than 10 years old, were being treated in the Pakis isolation room at Wahidin Sudirohusodo Hospital on Thursday for high fever and vomiting.

"Our preliminary clinical diagnosis was that they were infected with the bird flu virus, so we moved them to the isolation room," said M. Halik, who is responsible for bird flu treatment at the hospital.

Halik said the seven patients' blood had tested negative for the H5N1 bird flu virus. To be certain of the diagnosis, however, he said doctors needed the results of tests on the patients' nasal mucus from a laboratory in Jakarta.

"We've sent the specimens to Jakarta and are waiting for the test results," he said.

Family members said chickens near the patients' homes had been falling ill and dying rapidly without any clear reason, Halik added.

The Wahidin Sudirohusodo Hospital is somewhat overwhelmed by the increasing number of suspected bird flu patients it is treating. Two isolation rooms designed to hold two patients each have had to accommodate twice the number.

According to the Ministry of Health, a total of 69 people have contracted bird flu in Indonesia. Of those, 52 have died.

Meanwhile, in Central Java, many chickens have fallen ill and died in recent days in a possible outbreak of the disease.

The H5N1 virus is believed to be killing poultry in 17 kampongs in the Central Java regencies of Semarang, Temanggung, Purbalingga, Pekalongan and Pemalang, according to Kurmaningsih, the head of the Central Java Livestock Husbandry Office.

Rapid tests on dead chickens in Lebdosari kampong, Gisikdrono, in Semarang, indicated they had the virus. Local authorities later culled 35 other chickens in the kampong to prevent the disease from spreading.

Kurmaningsih said her office had asked for 10 million more doses of H5N1 vaccine from the central government.

"We currently have 12 million doses of the vaccine, but we want more in order to be ready for a much bigger outbreak," she said in Semarang on Thursday.

Kurmaningsih explained that despite the massive poultry vaccination drive launched earlier this year through a program called the National Movement against Avian Influenza, the infections which started hitting the province in 2003 have continued to spread.

Kurmaningsih said under the program, her office distributed 50 million doses of vaccine to poultry owners in the province in 2004, 14 million doses in 2005 and another 22 million doses this year.

"We culled chickens in Boyolali in 2004. But now we have no plans to do so because the social impacts (of culling) are so widespread. Besides that we still don't know whether there will be compensation for the culled chickens," she explained.

In a related development, the Ministry of Health plans to build modern laboratories in North Sumatra to diagnose bird flu infections, Aswin Soefi Lubi, dean of the School of Medicine at the Islamic University of North Sumatra, said Thursday.

Aswin said one of the laboratories will be built at his medical school. They will be used to test blood from suspected bird flu victims without having to send the samples to Jakarta.

Apriadi Gunawan contributed to this article from Medan, North Sumatra.