Hundreds of Poultry Dying in Banten

Serang, Kompas - Hundreds of poultry owned by citizens in three subdistrict in Serang city, Banten, had suddenly died off. Testing of some of the dead birds confirmed that the birds had died because of avian influenza. One of the case sites was Kemanisan village, Curug subdistrict, Serang city, Banten. On Wednesday afternoon (18/2), a chicken owned by Habudin, citizen of Waru Kidul subvillage, had suddenly died. Another citizen, Imron, even said that he had lost 12 chickens within less that a week. “The last chicken had died over there, in total 12 chickens had died,” he said.
Similar incidents also happened to other citizens of Waru Kidul subvillage. Data collected by the Agriculture Service Office of Serang showed that approximately 120 chickens had died within that subvillage.

Tests conducted by Avian Influenza Mitigation officers of the Agriculture Service Office of Serang indicated the chickens were positive for avian influenza.
“Last Monday, we had tested one of the dead birds. It came out positive; therefore we can conclude that poultry death within this subvillage was caused by avian influenza infection,” said Danang Turniatmadji, officer of the Avian Influenza Mitigation team of the Agriculture Service Office of Serang.
Avian influenza viruses were also found in dead chickens in Sukajaya village, Curug. At least 24 chickens owned by citizens of Gowok Masjid subvillage were reported to have suddenly died because of avian influenza.
Chickens owned by Munir, citizen of Pasir Huni subvillage, Pancalaksana village, Curug, had also suddenly died. But, he does not know the cause because the chickens had not been checked. “Last months, three of my chickens had died, two days yesterday another chicken died. It suddenly just fell and died, I don’t know why. But there was foam coming out of its beak,” he said.
Besides Curug subdistrict, sudden poultry death also occurred in Kalodran and Kepuren village of Walantaka subdistrict. At least 140 chickens owned by local citizens had died, avian influenza was suspected. “We call it suspect because none of the dead chickens were good for testing,” said Danang.
The same case also occurred with ducks owned by citizens of Trumbu and Sawah Luhur villages, Kaseman subdistrict. Officers couldn’t test the ducks because all of them have been sold to the market.

Governor directive ineffective
Actually, Banten Governor, Ratu Atut Chosiyah, has issued a directive on Avian Influenza mitigation. But Pergub No 1 year 2007 is ineffective because it is still not implemented.
Based on observation, many citizens still free range their chickens even though the governor directive requires them to keep the chickens in cages. Also, many chickens are still transported using open crates. Such practice is actually prohibited by the directive.
Meanwhile, to prevent further spread of avian influenza viruses, the Agriculture Service Office of Serang has given out disinfectants to citizens. The office has also held extension classes on how to prevent avian influenza and what to do with AI-infected poultry. With this, hopefully avian influenza will not infect humans. (NTA)
Source : Kompas