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[FONT=Helvetica, Arial]Bird flu causes losses of up to $2b[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica]
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
December 2, 2006
From September 2005 to September 2006, the world's poultry industry suffered approximately US$2 billion in losses due to the bird flu epidemic.
"The global poultry industry has suffered direct losses of $2 billion due to lower prices. This is equal to 14 percent of the total value of world trade," National Avian Influenza Control Commission chairman Bayu Krisnamurthi said Friday in Jakarta as quoted by Antara.
Apart from the direct financial losses, Bayu said, indirect losses had also been severe, including lower incomes for poultry breeders, lower poultry consumption and lower nutritional intake as a result of people's unwillingness to consume poultry products.
"The indirect losses are about 1.7 times the value of the direct losses, or about $3.4 billion," he estimated.
He said that in Indonesia alone, the poultry industry had suffered Rp 1.1 trillion in losses due to bird flu.
Furthermore, he said, the bird flu outbreak had also affected tourism.
"Because the tourism industry is highly dependent on public perceptions, erroneous perceptions about bird flu have resulted in people being nervous about visiting places where they think there is bird flu," he said.
The Hotel and Restaurant Association's head of international affairs, Ron Muller, said that the impact of bird flu could be seen in the drop in tourism earnings that had occurred since last year.
"Bird flu has had a big impact on the tourism industry. Our earnings have dropped by 40 percent. In Bali, they have actually dropped by 50 percent," said Muller, who is also the owner of the Papapizza chain.
Muller said that in order to minimize the adverse effects on tourism, his association had been campaigning to counter mistaken perceptions.
"This bird flu issue has affected many people, including businesses. Hopefully, with business involved in the campaign, we can all overcome the problem together," he said.
In Indonesia, the first cases of bird flu in fowl were detected in 2003 and the first cases in humans in 2005. Since July 2005, the bird flu virus has infected 74 people and resulted in the deaths of 57. The most recent victim, a 6-year-old child, died at the Adam Malik Hospital in Medan, North Sumatra, last month.
The country has become one of the front lines in the battle against the disease. No other nation has suffered from more deaths than Indonesia, where millions of chickens roam backyards freely. According to the World Health Organization, bird flu remains essentially an animal disease, but it has infected more than 250 people worldwide since late 2003, killing more than 150, Reuters reported.[/FONT]
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailbusiness.asp?fileid=20061202.M04&irec=3
[FONT=Helvetica, Arial]Bird flu causes losses of up to $2b[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica]
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
December 2, 2006
From September 2005 to September 2006, the world's poultry industry suffered approximately US$2 billion in losses due to the bird flu epidemic.
"The global poultry industry has suffered direct losses of $2 billion due to lower prices. This is equal to 14 percent of the total value of world trade," National Avian Influenza Control Commission chairman Bayu Krisnamurthi said Friday in Jakarta as quoted by Antara.
Apart from the direct financial losses, Bayu said, indirect losses had also been severe, including lower incomes for poultry breeders, lower poultry consumption and lower nutritional intake as a result of people's unwillingness to consume poultry products.
"The indirect losses are about 1.7 times the value of the direct losses, or about $3.4 billion," he estimated.
He said that in Indonesia alone, the poultry industry had suffered Rp 1.1 trillion in losses due to bird flu.
Furthermore, he said, the bird flu outbreak had also affected tourism.
"Because the tourism industry is highly dependent on public perceptions, erroneous perceptions about bird flu have resulted in people being nervous about visiting places where they think there is bird flu," he said.
The Hotel and Restaurant Association's head of international affairs, Ron Muller, said that the impact of bird flu could be seen in the drop in tourism earnings that had occurred since last year.
"Bird flu has had a big impact on the tourism industry. Our earnings have dropped by 40 percent. In Bali, they have actually dropped by 50 percent," said Muller, who is also the owner of the Papapizza chain.
Muller said that in order to minimize the adverse effects on tourism, his association had been campaigning to counter mistaken perceptions.
"This bird flu issue has affected many people, including businesses. Hopefully, with business involved in the campaign, we can all overcome the problem together," he said.
In Indonesia, the first cases of bird flu in fowl were detected in 2003 and the first cases in humans in 2005. Since July 2005, the bird flu virus has infected 74 people and resulted in the deaths of 57. The most recent victim, a 6-year-old child, died at the Adam Malik Hospital in Medan, North Sumatra, last month.
The country has become one of the front lines in the battle against the disease. No other nation has suffered from more deaths than Indonesia, where millions of chickens roam backyards freely. According to the World Health Organization, bird flu remains essentially an animal disease, but it has infected more than 250 people worldwide since late 2003, killing more than 150, Reuters reported.[/FONT]
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailbusiness.asp?fileid=20061202.M04&irec=3