Hundreds of Chickens Dead

Jombang, Kompas - Hundreds of native chickens in Dampak subvillage, Panglungan village, Wonosalam subdistrict, Jombang district, East Java had suddenly died off within the last two weeks. On Sunday (5/4), sudden chicken die off in the subvillage was still happening. Siswono (29), a citizen, had previously owned 20 native chickens, now only three are left. “The chickens started dying on April 3. Those were only the adult chickens. I could no longer count the chicks that had died,” said Siswono.

A similar case happened with Zainuddin. He lost eight of his chickens at once. “Now only two chickens are left, I’m just waiting for their time to come (to die),” he said.
Another citizen, Bejo Setiawan (49) said that the chickens in that subvillage started to die two weeks ago. “There were no signs of sickness, only convulsing then they were dead. Based on information from the subvillage chief who got it from the Livestock Service Office, laboratory results came out positive for avian influenza,” said Bejo who lost 20 of his chickens.
Head of the Animal Health Division of the Livestock and Fishery Service Office of Jombang district, Sujoko, confirmed the chicken die-off. But, he still can not confirm whether it was caused by H5N1 viruses.
Sujoko said that from the rapid test done on four samples from chickens in the subvillage last Friday, there is still some doubt.
Vaccination difficult
Bejo said that spraying of disinfectant on poultry cages had been done on Sunday morning. Vaccination is relatively difficult to do since chickens prefer to stay on top of trees than in cages, making them hard to catch.
Bejo also said around 40 families in RT 03 RW 04 of Dampak subvillage, Panglungan village have suffered economically due to the incidence. “Each house (family) has around 15 chickens,” he said. The price for a live native chicken is about 25,000 rupiahs per bird.
According to Sujoko, sudden chicken die off had also occurred in Mojowarno and Mojoagung subdistricts several months before, which is around 20 to 30 kilometers away from Dampak subvillage.
”But after tested, it was not avian influenza. The last year, between January and March, was quite concerning,” he said.
Currently, he said, the government advices citizens to spray disinfectants in high risk areas and house/cage chickens. Besides that, said Sujoko, the government will give health education to citizens related to this incident. (INK)
Source: Kompas