Batam administration to cull thousands of chickens
The Jakarta Post/ANN | Fri Feb 15 2013
Chickens in locations within a 1-kilometer radius from areas with recorded bird flu cases will be culled to prevent the spread of the bird flu virus to humans.
Indonesia, February 15, 2013
BATAM - The Batam administrative region will cull chickens in locations within a 1-kilometer radius from areas with recorded bird flu cases in an attempt to prevent the spread of the bird flu virus to humans.
Bird flu, or avian influenza, has spread rapidly in Batam. In less than a month, a total of 2,070 chickens died in two Batam sub-districts; Air Raja sub-district in Bulang district and Tanjung Riau sub-district in Sekupang district. The chickens tested positive for the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus, Batam's maritime, fisheries, agriculture and forestry affairs department (KP2K) confirmed.
KP2K chief Suhartini told The Jakarta Post on Thursday that chickens had been dying in the two sub-districts since the beginning of January.
"Hundreds more chickens from other sub-districts also died, possibly from bird flu. But local residents did not report the cases to us," said Suhartini.
Following the KP2Ks findings, the Batam administration plans to take necessary preventative measures to address the spread of the viruses. The two sub-districts in question will be isolated and the authorities will spray disinfectants around resident settlements and chicken scoops in the areas.
The KP2K also warned the poultry breeders from those two sub-districts to not sell-on their chickens and people have been warned to not consume chickens from the areas.
"Bird flu has become an epidemic in these areas. Therefore, we will cull all chickens within a 1-kilometer radius of the location where bird flu-infected chickens were found," said Suhartini.
Meanwhile, Batam Mayor Ahmad Dahlan highlighted on Thursday bird flu in humans had not been found in Batam so far. He urged people to report any case of dead poultry to the KP2K so that it could follow up the cases and investigate the cause of the deaths.
"No need to panic," Dahlan said, adding that several hospitals had been assigned as bird flu referral centers.
