Bird Flu Lands on Bali - Economic implications

[Sally Furniss]

Bali farmers start to feel the pinch of bird flu fight

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailheadlines.asp?fileid=20070822.A04&irec=3

Ary Hermawan, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar

Farmers in Bali are worried about their business, following a regulation in one regency to isolate all fowl.

The regulation which also instructs the mass culling of fowl in Jembrana was issued by Regent Gede Winasa in the wake of the death of one woman of bird flu last week.

"Our fate is unclear. There is no certainty (we can farm again)," Suryawan, secretary of the Bali Association of Poultry Farmers, told members of the provincial legislative council Tuesday in a meeting about bird flu.

A virologist here, Ngurah Mahardika, said however that the regent's policy should be supported. Farmers' protests "are the social cost of our ignorance", he said.

He said chicks from vaccinated hens could still be carriers of the virus though they would be immune from the disease.

More than 20,000 chickens have been blocked from entering the regency and local farmers have been forced to keep their fowl in pens.

Suryawan said there were currently 500,000 to 550,000 broiler chickens in the regency, with around 14,000 to 15,000 chickens prepared each day for consumption.

"The local markets normally absorb around 4,000 to 5,000 chickens per day. This means farmers have to sell their stock to other regions.

"But in situations where people are panicked by bird flu, the number sold will surely be far less than usual," he said.

Restaurants in Jembrana that offer chicken on their menus, Suryawan said, have been told not to sell dishes containing chicken.

"What should we do with our poultry?"

He said since the farmers had been forced to keep their fowl in pens, they might become reluctant to take care of them properly.

Under such conditions, he said, more chickens would die and people would assume it was from H5N1, thus creating more panic in the region.

The farmers are not able to slaughter the chickens and keep the meat for a long time as the regency does not have suitable chiller or freezer facilities.

The supply of chicks from East Java to Bali has declined by 59 percent with the closure of Gilimanuk port in Jembrana to all fowl.

Suryawan said the closure had also halted the supply to West Nusa Tenggara and East Nusa Tenggara.

Legislative council member Usdek Maharipa said the regulation should be revoked as it contradicted the 2005 governor's regulation on animal traffic, which allows the import of chicks and chicken meat from outside of Bali.

Usdek said preventing an outbreak of bird flu should be prioritized without damaging the province's economy.

"We will ask for more clear and comprehensive regulations on bird flu outbreak management to be issued," he said.

Meanwhile, Bali Tourism Agency head Gede Nurjaya said so far there has not been a drop in tourist visits, though he said people intending to visit the island had raised questions on the issue.

Nurjaya stressed the importance of providing clear information on the measures taken by the Bali administration in curbing the spread of the virus.

[HenryN]

Bird Flu Lands on Bali

Thursday, Aug. 23, 2007
Bird Flu Lands on Bali

By Bryan Walsh

The island of Bali has always been a separate part of Indonesia. A Hindu province inside the biggest Muslim country in the world, a jet-setting resort inside a poor, rural nation ? and a zone free of human cases of avian influenza in the nation that has recorded the most bird flu infections in the world. But Bali is bird flu free no longer. Today the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed the death of a young Balinese woman from H5N1 avian flu, the second case on the island in less than a month. Although Indonesian and WHO officials were quick to note that there was nothing clinically unusual about the Bali deaths ? both victims apparently contracted the virus from infected poultry ? the presence of human bird flu cases on a small island that hosts well over a million foreign tourists a year only adds to fears that H5N1 could eventually trigger a deadly flu pandemic that could spread around the world.
It's also a reminder that Indonesia ? a vast nation of 18,000 islands and 235 million people ? is quietly losing its battle against bird flu. Three years after the disease was first detected among the nation's poultry, the virus has spread to virtually every province in Indonesia. So far, 26 Indonesians have died of the disease this year alone. The deaths have become so common that they now rarely catch the world's attention ? but the Bali cases are different, especially for the Indonesian government. Tourist arrivals to Bali's beaches are just now recovering from a pair of deadly terror bombings in 2002 and 2005, and the perceived risk of bird flu ? though the chances of contracting the disease remain minuscule ? could stymie that revival.
The Indonesian government was worried enough about the Bali cases to do something it hasn't done in months: share H5N1 virus samples with the WHO. Under new international health regulations that went into effect in June, all countries are supposed to share virus samples of dangerous diseases like bird flu with the WHO, to help international scientists track contagion ? and in the case of the flu, formulate possible vaccines. Since the end of last year, however, Indonesia has refused to share samples, claiming that international drug companies were using Indonesian H5N1 strains to produce vaccines, which they would then sell at prices developing countries couldn't afford. Though Jakarta sent samples from one of the new cases to a WHO-affiliated lab at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta ? a move some experts say was done to send the signal that nothing was being hidden on Bali ? the larger dispute has yet to be settled. "I think there's progress on this, but we'd suggest a greater urgency," says John Rainford, a WHO spokesperson in Geneva.
Such foot-dragging is dangerous for Indonesia and the rest of the world. As the WHO outlined in its annual World Health Report, released Thursday, the globe has grown so interconnected that open international cooperation is the only way to respond to infectious disease threats like avian flu. Diseases don't respect boundaries ? from Bali, bird flu could hop a direct international flight to almost any country in Asia, and then the world. Avian flu has fallen out of the headlines, but that doesn't mean the disease has been eliminated, or the threat of a pandemic has disappeared. "We as humans do very well in responding to a crisis or disaster," says Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. "But fatigue starts in quickly, and on this issue, we've hit the fatigue factor." Bird flu in paradise might be a needed wake-up call.

http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1655667,00.html

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: Bird Flu Lands on Bali

Bali restaurants drop chicken and duck from menu

Fri Aug 24, 2007 6:38AM BST
KUTA, Indonesia (Reuters) - Some restaurants in Bali, Indonesia's main resort island, have taken chicken and duck off the menu after two Indonesian women died of bird flu in the past two weeks, an official said on Friday.

While Indonesia has reported 84 deaths from bird flu, the tourist island of Bali had, until this month, not suffered any human fatalities from the disease. Now, officials fear that the two deaths from bird flu in Bali could hit tourism.

Cok Ardhana, head of the Indonesian Association of Hotels and Restaurants in Bali, told Reuters that some restaurants had dropped chicken and duck dishes due to lack of demand from foreigners.

"This is to show customers that the local tourism industry is doing something to keep people safe from bird flu," he said.

Less than two weeks ago, a 29-year-old Indonesian woman from west Bali died of bird flu, the first confirmed death on the resort island. A 28-year-old poultry trader in Tanah Lot village, a popular tourist site in southwest Bali, died on Tuesday in a hospital in the capital, Denpasar.

Both cases have prompted fears the outbreak could spread and local officials have ordered the culling of thousands of chickens and introduced a ban on transporting fowl.

The tourism industry in Bali, a predominantly Hindu island in mostly Muslim Indonesia, is starting to recover after suicide bombers killed more than 200 people in late 2002, and another 20 people in October 2005.

The island regularly hosts large international conventions and is due to hold an important U.N. climate change conference in December which about 10,000 people are expected to attend.

Bagus Yudhara, a senior adviser with the local tourism council, said that although the recent cases had not scared travel agencies and tourists, there was pressure on the government to act quickly.

"The world is watching us closely. The fate of our tourism industry depends on how we handle the situation," he said.

Contact with sick fowl is the most common way for humans to contract the disease.

.

[FrenchieGirl]

Bali fears economic downturn after birdflu deaths

INDONESIA: Bali fears economic downturn after birdflu deaths - 27/08/2007

http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/asi...s/s2016523.htm

The economic fallout following the deaths of two women from bird flu on the Indonesian island of Bali have already begun causing economic hardship for some. At least 6,000 chickens and poultry have already been culled by animal health workers. That's hitting poultry farmers, and meanwhile hotels and restaurants are taking chicken off the menu, in the hope of maintaining confidence in the island's crucial tourism industry.

Presenter - Girish Sawlani Speaker - Agung Suryawan, Chairman of Research Centre for Culture and Tourism and Udayana University, Bali and customary head of the Sesetan village in Denpasar; Dr. Ngurah Mahardika, head of Animal Biomedical and Molecular Biology laboratory, Udayana University, head of Avian Influenza research team in 2005.

SAWLANI: Avian Influenza or Bird Flu has already claimed two lives in August and the culling of more than 6000 fowl. The outbreak has also led to the ban in import of chickens from East Java while local poultry farmers have been told by authorities to keep their chickens in the pens. This according to the Aging Suryawan, the chairman of the research centre of culture and tourism at the Udayana University, is causing hardships to poultry farmers in East Java and in the Jermbrana district of Bali.

SURYAWAN: They suffer much because the production is weak as they cannot supply to Bali, so they have to keep the chickens and keep feeding them. So they still have to spend money to buy the chicken feed, but they cannot sell the chickens, at least in the next three months. So they have to maintain their production but they don't get any money from selling.

SAWLANI: Mr Suryawan, who is also the customary head of the Sesatan village in Denpasar says that the Balinese government has been providing adequate compensation to farmers who have not been able to sell their poultry.

SURYAWAN: The government already provides special practice funding for them. For example the government asked them to destroy or kill all the chickens. The government will give money for compensation to them. The government of Bali will provide sufficient funding to give the farmers the compensation for their chickens.

SAWLANI: Despite fears of a potential epidemic, Mr Suryawan says that the local community is uniting behind the Balinese government and community leaders to help stop the spread of Bird Flu.

SURYAWAN: We have started since four years ago, village officials and the community leaders come to every member's house and asking whether or not they've got chickens. And if they got them the official will take them and kill them and burn them and they will be given compensation. At the moment the community who have got chickens are willing to give their chickens to the staff to be killed.

SAWLANI: So it's a pretty united effort by everyone in Bali?

SURYAWAN: Yes, united effort by everybody.

SAWLANI: Despite the outbreak, Mr. Suryawan says that the problem has barely had any impact on Bali's tourism industry.

SURYAWAN: At the moment so far according to the bookings and the arrivals, there is a normal situation. Up till now there is no cancellation for bookings, and arrivals are normal. So far there is no significant impact on tourist arrivals in Bali.

SAWLANI: As part of preventive measures to stop the further spread of bird flu and maintain confidence among tourists, many hotels and restaurants have taken chicken off their menu, leading to a decline in demand for poultry. But Dr. Ngurah Mahardika, head of the Animal Biomedical and Molecular Biology laboratory at Udayana University says that the initiative was not necessary.

MAHARDIKA: It's not a good move for the tourism, for the people, again we think the meat especially, not raw meat, but cooked meat is not dangerous at all, not risk at all. So I think the development by the hotel industry, of restaurants, by taking out all the chicken meat from the menu is not a good way to ensure the security of the tourists who come to Bali. But I think because the bird flu cannot be transmitted through food, it's not food-borne disease.

SAWLANI: In fact Dr. Mahardika sees the bright side of the whole issue. He says that the Bird Flu outbreak presents an opportunity for Bali to be better prepared for future disease outbreaks.

[Sally Furniss]

Demand for broilers in Bali plunges due AI outbreak

Demand for broilers in Bali plunges due AI outbreak

Denpasar, Bali (ANTARA News) - Demand for broilers in Bali has plunged by up to 50 percent to around 50,000 from 300,000 a day since bird flu (Avian Influenza/AI) outbreaks occurred in the resort island a few days ago, an industry spokesman said.

"In Denpasar, 250,000 broilers were put for sale this week but no chicken meat distributor bought them," chairman of the Bali Animal Breeders` Association Ketut Yahya Kurniadi said on Monday.

The same situation prevailed in Jembrana district where breeders became worried as the local authorities had temporarily banned them from selling broilers to the rest of Bali, he said.

"The price of broiler has plunged to Rp7,000 a kg in Jembrana district while in Denpasar it ranges between Rp8,500 and Rp9,000 a kg," he said.

He expressed hope that the government would soon take steps to contain the bird flu outbreaks.

"It is expected the government will soon resolve the bird flu-related problems so breeders will not suffer further losses in their broiler sales," he said.

Data from the Sanglah general hospital here show three people have died of bird flu in Bali.

To contain bird flu outbreaks, authorities in Denpasar have culled a number of poultry and conducted disinfectant sprayings.

Denpasar Animal Husbandry Office head Dewa Made Ngurah, said last week the local administration had ordered local village heads to immediately report to the concerned authorities any bird flu case so that the authorities could take quick responsive action.

In addition, Bali Island`s Gilimanuk port authorities have also forbidden the unloading of chickens and ducks from boats from Java since a few weeks ago following the discovery of a bird flu case in Jembrana recently.

The ban on chicken shipments from Java was based on an instruction from the Jembrana district administration and intended to prevent the spread of the deadly disease to wider areas, Bali police spokesman Senior Commissioner Reniban said last Monday.

Jembrana authorities have set up rapid response teams supervising the implementation of the poultry transportation restriction. (*)

[Niko]

Re: Bird Flu Lands on Bali

FAO helping Bali eradicate bird flu DENPASAR (Antara): The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) helped set up participatory disease surveillance and participatory disease response after the death of two bird flu-related people recently in Bali, an official said.

"The two teams have 72 members. They have been placed in eight districts and one city," Bali husbandry office spokesman Ketut Suarda said Sunday.

FAO also helped form a district surveillance officers team which is tasked to tackle animal health affairs, he said.

"Officials of the three agencies have already attended a coordinating meeting to take precautionary steps to avoid the bird flu virus from spreading further," he said.

The government has set a target of turning Bali and West Java into model provinces in deadly bird flu handling program by 2008.

Bali governor Dewa Beratha has said his administration had earmarked Rp 1.9 billion for bird flu eradication program in the province.(***)

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailgeneral.asp?fileid=20070902222146&irec=0