Avian flu in Java, deadly for humans
Jakarta (AsiaNews) A new outbreak of the avian flu has been reported in the small Central Java town of Grobogan. The World Health Organization (WHO) expressed its concern that the virus might affect humans and accused the Indonesian government of not taking adequate measures against its spread.
Even though the death of millions of chickens in Grobogan, a small town 200 km east of Semarang (Central Java's provincial capital), might be due to the avian flu, Indonesia's Agriculture Ministry denied any connection between the dead birds and the lethal virus. The Ministry's director for animal health, Tri Satya Naipospos, said that preliminary test results done in Hong Kong by a research institute tied the WHO showed that the bird flu strain found in Indonesia was of a genotype that does not infect humans.
According to WHO expert Steven Bjorge however all flu outbreaks in Asia which have caused 30 dead so far this year in Vietnam and Thailand were of the same Z genotype. "It is highly pathogenic to birds," Bjorge said, "and can be transmitted to humans but we have not seen it yet in Indonesia or China.
"There are sub lineages of H5N1 genotype Z. The virus in Indonesia is somewhat different from the virus in Vietnam and Thailand but that does not mean they are not all genotype Z," he added.
Tests conducted by Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta show that the virus in Java belongs to a high pathogenic avian influenza and is lethal to human beings.
In July Indonesia launched a major vaccination campaign to eradicate the virus. Still, it is being found in some provinces according to officials, because some farmers used illegal vaccines and restocked their poultry too early thus neglecting to follow proper procedures.
According to the WHO, the most important control measures are rapid destruction of all infected or exposed birds, proper disposal of carcasses and quarantining and rigorous disinfection of farms.
Indonesia has allocated US million for a vaccination campaign that should effectively contain the latest outbreak of the deadly bird flu.
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