Indonesia Finds Human-Threatening Bird Flu Virus
Date: 04-Feb-04
Country: INDONESIA
The death toll from the strain of bird flu in Asia has risen to 12, after the death of a boy in Vietnam and a woman in Thailand.
H5N1 is the only strain of bird flu known to have caused human fatalities.
"The identification process indicates the virus H5N1 in poultry...but so far there is no case among humans," Tri Satya Putri Naipospos, director of animal health at the agriculture ministry, said at a news conference.
He reiterated the government's commitment to launch a combined effort to cull the chicken in infected areas in Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous country, as well as to vaccinate healthy chickens.
"The government will give compensation in accordance to its ability. The amount of the compensation will be determined by the price of one-day-old chicks and the cost of feed for one month," Naipospos said.
It was not clear which areas in Indonesia had been infected with the H5N1 virus but government officials had earlier said the main island of Java and tourist center of Bali were the worst affected by the bird flu outbreak.
Officials have also said the government has put aside about 212 billion rupiah ($25.15 million) for the culling and vaccination.
Some reports estimate Indonesia's poultry industry, including feed consumed, to be worth about 60 trillion rupiah ($7.2 billion) a year.
The flu outbreak in Indonesia has cost the industry some 7.7 trillion rupiah.
The government has said 4.7 million chickens had died by late last month of either Newcastle disease, which is an infection that is not dangerous to people, or a combination of Newcastle and bird flu.
One official has said about another 15 million chickens may have been culled by farmers acting on their own.
