Palembang Caution for Bird Flu

PALEMBANG(SINDO) – The municipal government of Palembang is caution for the worst possibility of bird flu infection (avian influenza/H5N1) due to the change of season from rainy season to dry season. Head of the Agriculture Office of Palembang municipality, Sri Dewi Titisari, said her office has prepared a vaccination program for thousands of poultry in Palembang city. This step was taken to anticipate the spread of H5N1 virus that could happen anytime. “We predict [it to occur] during the change of seasons. Therefore, we must prepare and be cautious from now,” said Titi on Friday (15/2). She explained that they have vaccine stock of 5,000 – 10,000 doses, which is aid from the central government distributed through the provincial government.

Other than vaccination, they also prepared trained officers. “We have also prepared field extension officers that are outspread in each sub-district in Palembang,” she said. Vaccinated poultry will be able to neutralize the virus; therefore spread of it could be quickly prevented.
According to Titi, residential areas are susceptible to bird flu viruses. In Palembang city, poultry production centers, such as chickens, are in suburban areas. Starting from broiler chickens, native chickens, until layer chickens. Even though in general they are located far away from housing areas, chicken farms always receive strict monitoring.
Farmers also do not want their poultry to suddenly die due to bird flu viruses. Therefore, they always maintain the cleanliness of the poultry houses and their poultry. They also always come for free bird flu vaccines provided.
“What we are actually concerned now are native chickens. They are not well kept and often wet from rain and sleep everywhere,” she said. Again she advised citizens to vaccinate each and every one of their poultry. This is better to prevent the spread of bird flu that could come anytime. The Agriculture Office also asked citizens to maintain the cleanliness of poultry kept and to not keep them in one house [with the owners] because it would be very dangerous.
“We have to be cautious and take preventive measures,” she said. Meanwhile, Head of the Livestock Services Office of South Sumatra Province, Hasjal Fauzi, asked citizens to be alert of the spread of bird flu because the changing of seasons is predicted to be a very vulnerable time.
He said that the provincial government received allocation of 4.5 million doses of bird flu vaccines and will be distributed to every district/municipality. “We also will focus it on poultry production centers, such as East OKU, Palembang, Muara Enim, OKI, Ogan Ilir (OI), and Musi Rawas (Mura). We will continue to monitor it and also as public participation,” he said.
He added that his office has form a bird flu prevention and mitigation unit (Unit Penanggulangan Pencegahan Penyakit Flu Burung/UP3AI). Bird flu infection in humans now has reached 126 cases, with 103 fatalities.
This means that the case fatality rate in humans is 81.7% or the highest in the world. The highest bird flu cases in Indonesia is in West Java with 31 cases and 25 fatalities, followed by DKI Jakarta with 30 cases and 26 fatalities and Banten with 25 cases and 22 fatalities. (siera syailendra)