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Swine Influenza : Pork Smuggling Intercepted
Jakarta - The Soekarno-Hatta Agriculture Quarantine Center in collaboration with the Customs Services has intercepted the smuggling of 1.4 tons of pork from Singapore. The pork was smuggled through the cargo of a plane from Lion Air airlines.
Head of the Soekarno-Hatta Agriculture Quarantine Center, Susilo, said on Sunday (26/4) in Semarang, that the meat was re-exported to Singapore using the same plane, Lion Air flight JT 152.
”The pork owner said he didn’t know he had to have legal documents. This a modus often used,” said Susilo.
The Quarantine Center last night had asked explanations from Lion Air regarding their cargo of pork, which is estimated to worth 105 million rupiahs.
Head of Soekarno-Hatta Agriculture Quarantine Center, Hari Priyono, said they are intensifying control on pork import into Indonesia in response to the swine influenza outbreak in Mexico and declaration of swine influenza emergency by the World Health Organization.
So far, most agricultural commodities traded transit in Singapore and Port Klang, Malaysia.
“To anticipate all of that, we intensify control and reject pork entering Indonesia because we don’t know from where the pork comes from, since Singapore also imports pork,” said Hari.
Hari also said they are conducting internal consolidation to anticipate [prepare for] swine influenza virus introduction through other entry points such as Juanda Airport in Surabaya, Ahmad Yani Airport in Semarang, I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport in Bali, and Tanjung Priok harbor in Jakarta.
Susilo added that the re-exported pork were without legal documents such as sanitation health documents, HC of the original state or region, and import approval (SPP) from the Directorate General of Livestock.
Swine flu transmission
Pork owner, Nikolas Ohello, citizen of Kompleks Bandara Mas in Tangerang, has been given a chance to acquire all the necessary documents. But until three days after the cargo’s arrival on 23 April 2009, Nikolas was still unable to show the documents.
This incident was discovered after quarantine and customs officials x-rayed cargo coming through the international arrival terminal.
Swine influenza is an influenza caused by influenza A subtype H1N1 that is transmitted from animals, especially swine, with a possibility of human to human transmission.
Directorate General Disease Control and Environmental Health of the Ministry of Health, Tjandra Yoga Aditama, said that the ministry has distributed alert memos to all health offices and port health offices throughout Indonesia. The memos were given to anticipate possible emergence of swine influenza cases.
Swine influenza is transmitted through air and through direct contact with infected patients. The incubation period is three to five days. It could be prevented by maintaining a clean lifestyle.
Until this moment, 8 cases have been confirmed positive in the US and 878 cases have been reported in Mexico with 60 fatalities (20 cases positive swine influenza).
General Director of Lion Air, Edward Sirait, said they are not authorized in inspected cargo carried by passengers to Indonesia. “Inspection of the pork should have been done by officials of Changi Airport,” he said.
(MAS/RYO/evy)
Source : Kompas