H

ealth authorities in Jakarta conducted a mass culling of poultry in Cilandak, South Jakarta over the last few days after finding that some of the birds tested positive for avian flu.

Officials from the Marine, Agriculture and Food Security Agency, who carried out the culling, warned that the city was not yet safe from the deadly virus.

Kristrisasi Helenandri, head of the South Jakarta Marine, Agriculture and Food Security Agency, said on Sunday that officials from the agency took action after locals reported that at least 20 birds were found dead on Tuesday in nearby makeshift homes erected by scavengers in the neighborhood.

Following the discovery, the agency carried out a laboratory test and found on Thursday that the birds were infected with avian flu. Kristrisasi said a local culling measure was implemented in the area
on Friday.

'€œWe burned all the fowl before burying them, and then we decontaminated the area,'€ she told reporters.

Avian flu viruses do not usually infect humans. However, several instances of human infections and outbreaks have been reported since 1997. Symptoms of avian influenza in humans have ranged from typical influenza-like symptoms, such as fever, coughing and a sore throat, to eye infections, pneumonia and acute respiratory distress.

On Mar 24, an officer of the Immigration Office'€™s Kelapa Gading branch in North Jakarta, passed away after being infected with avian flu a few weeks earlier. Two days later, his two-year-old toddler, who had been infected as well, also died.

Three weeks before the incident, the family who lived in Cipondoh, Tangerang, visited the father'€™s family house in Bogor, West Java, which indications suggest was the source of the avian flu virus.

South Jakarta Health Agency head Henny Fachruddin said Sunday that no humans had been infected in the recent avian flu case and added that supervision of poultry in the area had been improved following the incident.

'€œIn response to the incident we have tightened supervision of folks who run backyard poultry farms and local neighborhoods to find out if any residents have flu symptoms,'€ she said.

Henny said that the agency would continue the monitoring for the next two weeks to make sure the spread of the virus was contained and no residents were infected.

The agency has also urged community health centers (Puskesmas) to keep a close eye on locals reporting any flu or fever symptoms.

Head of the poultry division of the South Jakarta Marine, Agriculture and Food Security Agency Sri Hartati said the agency had stepped up measures to curb backyard poultry farming.

'€œWe often conduct inspections and exterminations, but the day afterward, residents continue raising poultry,'€ she said.

Jakarta Administration bylaw No. 4/2007 on Poultry Control requires anyone who raises poultry to obtain a license from the city administration and stipulates that the animals must be kept at least 25 meters from residential areas.

Article 13 of the bylaw says that any violation could lead to three months in jail or an Rp 50 million fine as well as the confiscation and extermination of any birds that are raised illegally.

Jakarta deputy governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat acknowledged that the mass culling was an indication that in spite of the city government'€™s best efforts, Jakarta was not yet free of avian flu.

'€œAvian flu has been here for a long time and until now we still cannot declare that the city is completely free from it,'€ Djarot said.
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