Bird Flu Positive, All Quails were Culled

Klaten (ANTARA News) – Quails in Kasihan village, Ceper sub-district, Klaten district in Central Java were culled after one of them was declared positively infected by Avian Influenza virus. The culling of quails in Kasihan village was done to prevent the disease from spreading to other poultry, said the Head of Livestock Services Sub-Office of Klaten, Sri Muryani, in Klaten on Thursday.
In Ceper, before the quails, many native chickens owned by Ngawonggo citizens suddenly died and was declared positive for Avian Influenza virus after examined by the Livestock Services Office. Sri Muryani said that her office had conducted vaccination on poultry in that area. Besides that, citizens of Ngawonggo village have applied preventive measures by spraying disinfectants on the poultry houses owned by citizens.

The Livestock Services Sub-Office of Klaten said that almost everyday they find chickens owned by citizens suddenly dying off.
“Now the virus is attacking Kasihan village, therefore about 50 quails were immediately destroyed, by burning them, to prevent spread to other poultry,” said Sri.
Regarding the culling, she said that the district government of Klaten has not provided any compensation for the birds, because they have not received any instructions from the upper level government.
For AI in Klaten, since January 2008 until now, there was a sudden die off of 15 poultry and 6 of the birds were confirmed positive for AI. The case occurred in Ceper, Bayat, Pedan, Prambanan, and Gantiwarno sub-districts.
Sri explained that the Livestock Services Sub-Office is now facing a shortage in vaccines. From the previous cases, her office has distributed vaccines to AI positive areas.
“Our current vaccine stock is only 600,000 doses and this was leftovers from last year, 2007. This year we have not received aid from the central government and it is still unclear,” she said.
She explained that to prevent transmission of the virus from poultry to human, citizens are advised to keep their poultry housed and to wash their hands cleanly with soap after handling their chicken.(*)
Source: Antara