The Jakarta Globe, February 6, 2014.
Jakarta. The Agriculture Ministry says it has prepared a stockpile of bird flu vaccines following the death of hundreds of thousands of poultry in several regions across the country.
Agriculture Minister Suswono said on Wednesday that of the 225,131 poultry deaths had been recorded recently, adding that bird flu was a common disease following widespread flooding.
“We have prepared 300,000 doses of AI [avian influenza] vaccine for duck breeders. As for chicken breeders, we will give them as much as we can,” Suswono said in a statement on Thursday, as quoted by Tempo.co.
The ministry has reportedly begun distributing the vaccines to several duck farming regions that have been affected by the flooding that began in mid-January.
On Monday, the farming and livestock agency in Kendal district, Central Java, called on residents to be aware of poultry and poultry-related supplies coming from the neighboring districts of Pati, Kudus and Jepara, which have been particularly hard-hit by floods.
“Large areas in Pati, Kudus and Jepara are still inundated so there is a high possibility that poultry from those areas may be infected with diseases,” Eko Tri Jatmiko, the agency’s head for livestock, said as quoted by Kompas.com. “This extreme weather in early 2014 could see more fowl infected with avian influenza.”
He added the agency would be taking preventive measures, including by raising awareness among local farmers and consumers about how to identify and report potentially infected poultry. Eko said poultry farmers would also get vaccines for their birds.
At least 20 subdistricts is Kendal are at risk to a potential bird flu outbreak, he warned.
“This virus usually infects poultry that have not been vaccinated,” Eko said, adding that the public should immediately report any cases of chicken deaths in their region.
A case of the avian flu virus was this week identified in Bali’s Klungkung district, where dozens of chickens recently died unexpectedly.
Ketut Wardana, the owner of the infected poultry, reportedly complained of suffering a fever following the deaths of the birds, and has been admitted to Sanglah General Hospital in Denpasar.
“From the rapid test conducted by Klungkung’s Fisheries, Livestock and Marine Agency, it was declared that the chickens had positively died of bird flu infection,” Ratna, an official who helped carry out the test, said on Tuesday.
“However, the owner is still being tested and has been under medical treatment since yesterday because he had direct contact with the chickens.”
Ratna said that an initial test on Wardana had turned out negative for bird flu, but that he would still have to undergo more tests.
She added that medical officers would continue conducting health checkups on local residents, mainly those living within 100 meters of Wardana’s poultry farm.
Wardana’s 14-year-old daughter, Wiwin, said her father had fallen sick shortly after the chickens died.
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do 6 feb 2014 - 9:55