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AKARTA: The government has established the National Committee on Zoonosis and Communicable Diseases Control through a presidential regulation.

Coordinating People’s Welfare Minister Agung Laksono said the new body would replace the now-dissolved National Commission for Bird Flu Control and Pandemic Influenza Preparedness (Komnas FBPI).

“[Komnas FBPI] only monitors avian influenza, and the new committee would monitor a wider range of illnesses,” he said on Wednesday as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

Agung is leading the committee, which is tasked with monitoring anthrax, rabies, influenza and other kinds of animal-borne diseases.

“We will try not to be dependent on the state budget for funding,” he said. — JP