Korean paper reports on Indonesia

Will Bird Flu Go Pandemic?
More victims in more Indonesian cities
Aloysius Wisnuhardana (wisnuhard) Email Article Print Article
Published 2006-10-06 11:58 (KST)
After 52 deaths in Indonesia from bird flu virus through September, several new cases were treated in several cities this month, including Medan, Bandung, Jakarta, Semarang, and Makassar.

In Makassar, six patients (children, aged from 1.5 to 11 years) have had to get medical treatment since Oct. 3 and should undergo lab tests. Local health officials in Makassar want to conduct lab tests on those who live with the sick and their neighbors, but people locked their doors against health care workers there who wanted to take blood samples. After an exchange of words, the officials asked the village chief to intercede, eventually getting samples within a few hours.

In Semarang on the other hand, neighbors of two patients suspected of infection actually urged health officials to take samples from them and urged veterinary officers to vaccinate all poultry in their area. Meanwhile, hundreds of chickens found dead near their houses a few days ago have already been burned.

The situation may have to be taken more seriously now that the Head of the West Java Animal Husbandry Office, Rachmat Setiadi, as quoted in The Jakarta Post, revealed that his aide had tested over 20 chickens in the house of two men who had died of flu (aged 23 and 20 years), having bought dead chickens from the market for their dogs.

Four healthy chickens were found to be infected with H5N1, or "bird flu" virus. He added that we should be more cautious, since even healthy birds could be carriers of bird flu. Meanwhile, over 11 dogs kept by bird flu cluster families tested negative.

The new fact may complicate the situation even more since the last 10 days of Ramadan will start soon (the last day is Oct. 23), when Moslem communities will end fasting and celebrate the great day of Idul Fitri. Traditionally, most Moslems in Indonesia celebrate by having a party with their family and visiting other families, so that the demand for food, especially poultry and chickens, increases significantly.

The traffic in chickens and poultry cannot be controlled because the demand is so high, which traders will do anything to meet. Traders in Bogor confessed that they would bring chickens in from anywhere, such as Bandung and Sukabumi, and that sometimes their stocks would be bought by traders from Tangerang or Jakarta.

Government officials are not empowered to interfere with this traffic, but at the same time they must campaign about how dangerous bird flu virus is.

Another problem is that infected areas have recently been spreading day by day, with the result that the government has not been able to isolate the outbreaks. For example, almost half the regencies in Central Java were infected by the virus, or 17 of the 35 regencies in that province. More than 600,000 chickens have died and tens of thousands slaughtered.

According to Health Ministry data, as of Sept. 29 there had occurred 248 bird flu cases around the world, in which 146 people had died. Of these, 69 cases had occurred in Indonesia, including 52 fatalities.

The next question is: How to stop the spread of bird flu virus if it becomes a pandemic? Would it be possible to destroy every chicken alive? How would any government fund this activity, as there are so many things to be done: campaigning, providing vaccines and medical treatment for victims, research, and subsidizing the farmers and people who raise chickens?

The Indonesian government and World Health Organizations have so far appointed North Sumatra Islamic University as a Center for Bird Flu Research, but in the short run we will have to try something else.
©2006 OhmyNews