Bird flu feared to have infected ducks in Bali

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http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailnational.asp?fileid=20040208.A02 & irec=1

 

February 08, 2004

The Jakarta Post

 

Bird flu feared to have infected ducks in Bali

Wahyoe Boediwardhana, The Jakarta Post, Tabanan, Bali

 

Bali's bird flu looks to have spread to ducks, with

some 3,000 of the birds displaying symptoms of the

virus before they died, the island's animal husbandry

office said.

 

Provincial head Ida Bagus Raka said while the evidence

looked bad, his office had not yet determined

conclusively whether the ducks had avian influenza, or

the dangerous H5N1 strain of the virus.

 

" At the moment we are still waiting for laboratory

tests conducted on several carcasses of infected

ducks, " Ida Bagus told The Jakarta Post here on

Friday.

 

Bali authorities slaughtered thousands of flu-infected

chickens on Friday, marking the start of a nationwide

culling of 10 million chickens to stop the spread of

the virus.

 

The resort island is one of 10 provinces hit hardest

by the outbreak. The government has confirmed the H5N1

virus has caused the deaths of millions of chickens

across the country.

 

Ida Bagus said a sickness in ducks was first noticed

early this month at several farms at Jembrana, in the

island's western coastal regency, where the duck

population totaled about 44,000.

 

The unknown virus had an incubation period of between

one and three days and it took only a short time to

infect the whole farm, he said.

 

The office had taken several security measures,

including regularly monitoring the farms and limiting

human access to the infected places.

 

" We cannot apply any vaccines since the virus has not

been identified yet, " Ida Bagus said.

 

Meanwhile, Hindu followers in Bolangan, Utu and

Senganan -- three hamlets in Tabanan at the center of

the bird flu -- held a Pecaruan Durmanggala

purification ritual, burning around 2,500 infected

chickens.

 

" The ritual is aimed at purifying and cleansing the

areas from the evil impact of avian influenza, "

pemangku (temple priest) Rajapati said.

 

Several farmers said they believed the ritual would

stave off any further infections in the future.

 

" I believe that after this ritual there will be no

virus infection again, " Wayan Sujaya, who lost 4,000

chickens, said.

 

The Tabanan administration has planned to burn a total

of 216,900 infected chickens in the next few days.

 

 

 

 

 

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