Bush to Discuss Ways to Combat Bird Flu During Indonesia Visit
By Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja and Vesna Poljak
Nov. 6 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. President George W. Bush will discuss ways to combat bird flu during a meeting this month with his counterpart in Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, in the country most affected by the lethal virus.
Bush is scheduled to visit Indonesia on Nov. 20, Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono told reporters in Jakarta today. The leaders will also focus on boosting cooperation on health, education and natural disaster management, Sudarsono said.
More than a third of the 152 human fatalities caused by the H5N1 strain of avian influenza recorded globally the past three years have occurred in Indonesia, where the virus has been found in fowl in 30 out of 33 provinces. Health authorities are trying to stem its spread to reduce chances of H5N1 mutating to become easily transmissible between people, sparking a lethal pandemic.
Australia's Commonwealth Science and Industrial Research Organization said today that veterinarians from its main animal health laboratory will work with authorities and researchers in Indonesia to diagnose and monitor H5N1 there.
Australia's AusAID international development agency contributed A$1.6 million ($1.2 million) for the two-year project, which aims to ensure that Indonesia's lab network can rapidly diagnose H5N1, CSIRO said in an e-mailed statement.
The Australian Animal Health Laboratory at Geelong, near Melbourne, is one of about seven facilities globally used by the World Organization for Animal Health as a reference center for highly pathogenic avian influenza.
Researchers of both nations will visit each other's labs for training and guidance in disease surveillance, the statement said.
The H5N1 virus is known to have infected 256 people in 10 countries in the past three years, killing 152 of them, the World Health Organization said on Oct. 31. Indonesia, the world's fourth most-populous nation, has recorded 72 H5N1 cases, of which 55 were fatal.
The nation consists of about 18,000 islands spread along 5,281 kilometers (3,282 miles) in Southeast Asia and is home to an estimated 242 million people.
Indonesia is also on the so-called Ring of Fire zone of active volcanoes and tectonic faults. The country has 129 active volcanoes. A tsunami generated by an earthquake off the island of Sumatra left more than 165,000 dead or missing in the nation's Aceh province in December 2004.
By Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja and Vesna Poljak
Nov. 6 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. President George W. Bush will discuss ways to combat bird flu during a meeting this month with his counterpart in Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, in the country most affected by the lethal virus.
Bush is scheduled to visit Indonesia on Nov. 20, Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono told reporters in Jakarta today. The leaders will also focus on boosting cooperation on health, education and natural disaster management, Sudarsono said.
More than a third of the 152 human fatalities caused by the H5N1 strain of avian influenza recorded globally the past three years have occurred in Indonesia, where the virus has been found in fowl in 30 out of 33 provinces. Health authorities are trying to stem its spread to reduce chances of H5N1 mutating to become easily transmissible between people, sparking a lethal pandemic.
Australia's Commonwealth Science and Industrial Research Organization said today that veterinarians from its main animal health laboratory will work with authorities and researchers in Indonesia to diagnose and monitor H5N1 there.
Australia's AusAID international development agency contributed A$1.6 million ($1.2 million) for the two-year project, which aims to ensure that Indonesia's lab network can rapidly diagnose H5N1, CSIRO said in an e-mailed statement.
The Australian Animal Health Laboratory at Geelong, near Melbourne, is one of about seven facilities globally used by the World Organization for Animal Health as a reference center for highly pathogenic avian influenza.
Researchers of both nations will visit each other's labs for training and guidance in disease surveillance, the statement said.
The H5N1 virus is known to have infected 256 people in 10 countries in the past three years, killing 152 of them, the World Health Organization said on Oct. 31. Indonesia, the world's fourth most-populous nation, has recorded 72 H5N1 cases, of which 55 were fatal.
The nation consists of about 18,000 islands spread along 5,281 kilometers (3,282 miles) in Southeast Asia and is home to an estimated 242 million people.
Indonesia is also on the so-called Ring of Fire zone of active volcanoes and tectonic faults. The country has 129 active volcanoes. A tsunami generated by an earthquake off the island of Sumatra left more than 165,000 dead or missing in the nation's Aceh province in December 2004.