The Jember regency administration announced Tuesday the H5N1 bird flu virus had spread to 17 of the regency's 31 districts after lab tests showed 5,449 chickens that died in those areas were infected by the virus.

The local administration has conducted inspections on the traffic of poultry coming from Banyuwangi, Situbondo and a number of areas supplying poultry to Jember.

The affected districts are: Kalisat, Panti, Jenggawah, Ajung, Pakusari, Sumbersari, Tempurejo, Mumbulsari, Sukorambi, Patrang, Ambulu, Tanggul, Kaliwates, Jelbuk, Arjasa, Sukowono and Puger.

Sudarsono, head of the animal husbandry department at the Livestock, Fishery and Marine Affairs Agency in Jember, said his office had culled 1,000 chickens owned by residents in the affected districts.

"We have also sprayed disinfectant in traditional markets and poultry farms, especially after the provincial administration issued a warning on the global spread of swine flu," Sudarsono said.

Head of the Jember Health Agency Olong Fajri Maulana said the bird flu infection in the regency was considered highly unexpected because his office had received no reports of poultry infected by the H5N1 virus since 2006.

"It is the first occurrence in Jember and it has spread to quite a large area," he said.

Meanwhile, in relation to the swine flu outbreak in America and Europe, East Java Husbandry Agency head Sigit Hanggono said his office had carried out a number of anticipatory measures to prevent the spread of the disease in the province, despite the smaller number of pig farms in East Java.

"We have instructed the animal quarantine centers at sea and airports to raise their level of alert. We have also asked the related agencies to disinfect pig farms, such as those in Tulungagung, Sidoarjo, Jombang and Lumajang," Sigit said.

Based on a survey conducted by the East Java BPS Statistics Agency, the pig population in the province stood at around 75,000 in 2008, a significant rise from 48,000 the previous year.

The poultry population in East Java stands at 98 million, scattered across 38 regencies and cities. East Java Governor Soekarwo said he had proposed the distribution of emergency mitigation funds to the provincial legislature given the vast area of the province.

"We will submit the proposal from the husbandry and health offices to the legislature in the next couple of days," Soekarwo said.

Head of the Disease Control and Medical Problems division at the provincial health agency Budi Rahaju said such funds were badly needed given the limited supplies of vaccines at the health agency.

"The current stock of Tamiflu, a vaccine for bird and swine flu, at the health agency is insufficient to supply hundreds of community health centers across the province," Budi said.

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