Theresa42
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FAO says Indonesia's fight against bird flu dogged by ignorance
May 15, 2006
Jakarta - Public ignorance about the dangers of bird flu and poor co-ordination between various levels of government are the biggest obstacles Indonesia faces in its fight against the virus, an expert said Monday.
While other Southeast Asian nations like Thailand and Vietnam have had considerable success controlling the spread of the virus, Indonesia has one of the highest rates of infections among poultry in the region, said Laurence Gleeson of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
"The level of the virus has decreased quite markedly in Thailand and Vietnam ... but there is still a considerable level of circulation within Indonesia," Gleeson told reporters.
Indonesia, unlike Thailand and Vietnam, had poor coordination between different layers of government and this made the fight against bird flu more difficult, he said.
"It is more an issue of co-ordination from the central government, to the provincial government to local government. This is a key issue for Indonesia," he said after an FAO regional conference.
The World Health Organisation has confirmed 25 deaths from the deadly H5N1 bird virus in Indonesia.
Indonesia has witnessed more bird flu deaths than any other country this year and has the world's second highest number of fatalities since 2003, after Vietnam.
A lack of trust, as well as a lack of public awareness about the dangers of bird flu for humans, means many Indonesians are reluctant to report outbreaks among their fowl, Gleeson said.
"People have to understand that if your chickens have bird flu, you don't take it down to the local market to sell them," he said.
The Thai government was far more successful than Indonesia in controlling the spread of the virus because it wanted to protect its massive chicken export business, he said.
Indonesia remains a potential source of infections for other countries in the region, Gleeson said.
He said its epidemic was threatening to spread to Pacific nations after poultry in the easternmost province of Papua was recently found to be infected with bird flu.
"Certainly it's clearly a threat to PNG (Papua New Guinea) and other nations in the South Pacific and I'm not talking about Australia but smaller nations," said Gleeson.
The millions of chickens kept in backyards across densely populated Indonesia was also one of the government's "greatest challenges" in attempting to stamp out the virus, said Gleeson.
The H5N1 strain of bird flu has killed 115 people worldwide since 2003, mostly in Asia.
Agence France Presse
http://nationmultimedia.com/worldhotnews/read.php?newsid=30004064
May 15, 2006
Jakarta - Public ignorance about the dangers of bird flu and poor co-ordination between various levels of government are the biggest obstacles Indonesia faces in its fight against the virus, an expert said Monday.
While other Southeast Asian nations like Thailand and Vietnam have had considerable success controlling the spread of the virus, Indonesia has one of the highest rates of infections among poultry in the region, said Laurence Gleeson of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
"The level of the virus has decreased quite markedly in Thailand and Vietnam ... but there is still a considerable level of circulation within Indonesia," Gleeson told reporters.
Indonesia, unlike Thailand and Vietnam, had poor coordination between different layers of government and this made the fight against bird flu more difficult, he said.
"It is more an issue of co-ordination from the central government, to the provincial government to local government. This is a key issue for Indonesia," he said after an FAO regional conference.
The World Health Organisation has confirmed 25 deaths from the deadly H5N1 bird virus in Indonesia.
Indonesia has witnessed more bird flu deaths than any other country this year and has the world's second highest number of fatalities since 2003, after Vietnam.
A lack of trust, as well as a lack of public awareness about the dangers of bird flu for humans, means many Indonesians are reluctant to report outbreaks among their fowl, Gleeson said.
"People have to understand that if your chickens have bird flu, you don't take it down to the local market to sell them," he said.
The Thai government was far more successful than Indonesia in controlling the spread of the virus because it wanted to protect its massive chicken export business, he said.
Indonesia remains a potential source of infections for other countries in the region, Gleeson said.
He said its epidemic was threatening to spread to Pacific nations after poultry in the easternmost province of Papua was recently found to be infected with bird flu.
"Certainly it's clearly a threat to PNG (Papua New Guinea) and other nations in the South Pacific and I'm not talking about Australia but smaller nations," said Gleeson.
The millions of chickens kept in backyards across densely populated Indonesia was also one of the government's "greatest challenges" in attempting to stamp out the virus, said Gleeson.
The H5N1 strain of bird flu has killed 115 people worldwide since 2003, mostly in Asia.
Agence France Presse
http://nationmultimedia.com/worldhotnews/read.php?newsid=30004064