F

span class="caption" style="width: 398px;">Fowl must die: A health official catches and kills a chicken in a slum area in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, on Monday. The authorities culled fowl and destroyed coops as part of precautionary measures to control the resurgence of avian flu in Jakarta. JP/Wendra AjistyatamaA man suspected of being infected with bird flu reportedly died over the weekend, highlighting the continued threat the deadly virus poses in the capital.

PDY, 23, died on Saturday on his way to the Tangerang public hospital, after being rejected by a hospital charged with treating bird flu patients. He is believed to have been infected with the H5N1 virus from his sick pigeon.

He had a high fever on New Year’s Eve and was rushed to the Satya Negara hospital in North Jakarta. The hospital said that he might have suffered from a gastric infection and released him. However, a few days later, his family brought him back to the hospital, which then claimed that based on his symptoms, he might be suffering from dengue fever.

As his condition deteriorated, he was suspected of being infected with bird flu, and it was recommended he be taken to the Sulianti Suroso hospital in North Jakarta as it has specialized facilities for the disease.

However, he was rejected by the hospital because its intensive care unit was full, and instead was sent to Tangerang public hospital. He died en route.

The Jakarta Health Agency has instructed referral hospitals for avian influenza to have all facilities prepared to treat patients following the case in North Jakarta.

“I will ask referral hospitals that treat bird flu to maintain several rooms complete with necessary equipment for bird flu patients in order to avoid the recent incident from happening again,” the agency’s chief, Dien Emmawati, said.

There are three referral hospitals for bird flu in the capital: Sulianti Suroso, Persahabatan Hospital in East Jakarta, and Gatot Soebroto Hospital in Central Jakarta.

“All treatments for patients suspected to have bird flu at the referral hospital are free,” she said.

A relative of the latest bird flu victim, identified as ASR, 5, is currently being treated at the Persahabatan hospital but has tested negative for bird flu after several examinations, Dien said.

She said that among their neighbors, the victim’s family were known to keep pigeons as their pets. It remains unclear whether their pets had been certified as required by a 2007 bylaw on poultry control in Greater Jakarta, which also forbids residents from keeping poultry in backyard farms.

The bylaw was enacted to anticipate the threat of bird flu in the city.

The Maritime and Agriculture Agency chief Ipih Ruyani said the agency had conducted a sweep of the neighborhood and found that many pigeons were roaming around freely.

“Together with the sub-district officers, we conducted a sweep and took 53 samples of the birds in the neighborhood. But we’re still waiting for the results,” she said. “We will also continue inspections in other areas across the city.”

Despite measures taken by the administration, she said poor awareness among people also contributed to the occurrence of avian flu.

“Many residents still keep poultry in their backyard and have uncertified poultry as pets. Some even hide their poultry when we conduct a sweep. They’re not aware that such a thing creates a potential for transmitting the highly pathogenic bird flu virus,” she said.

A senior health official recently said that Indonesia remained a H5N1 virus “hot spot” as backyard poultry farms remained the backbone of the meat supply for the population, including in Jakarta.