Dead chickens spoil Indonesia’s island paradise
Hundreds of dead chickens found in Bali in Indonesia have tested positive for the H5N1 strain of avian flu.
Around 300 birds have died of the virus over the past week, according to I Gusti Ngurah Sandjaja, an official in Bali’s westernmost Jembrana district.
“We have carried out a rapid test and found that they were positively infected by the bird flu virus,” Sandjaja said. “Fortunately, there are no indications that the virus has spread to humans here.”
Indonesia has posted 42 human deaths since July 2005 and is tied with Vietnam as the world’s hardest-hit country.
The nation has reported the most human fatalities this year as authorities struggle to control the virus in poultry in about 80 percent of its 33 provinces.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that limited human-to-human transmission may have taken place in a family in Sumatra, where the largest cluster case of human infections occurred.
The WHO has been frustrated with Indonesia’s efforts to eradicate bird flu. Much of the problem has been attributed to the fact that Indonesia is comprised of almost 18,000 islands with a population of 220 million. The amount of compensation being provided to farmers is also seen as an inadequate incentive to ensure transparent reporting and management of the disease.
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