By NNN-Antara
Denpasar, Bali : Coordinating Minister for People’s Welfare Aburizal Bakrie has said that bird flu (Avian Influenza) outbreak posed a serious threat to many countries, including Indonesia.
“The death toll of the bird flu disease (in this country) is relatively small, namely 85 out of the total 106 human cases, if we compare it to TBC disease which has claimed thousands of lives,” Minister Bakrie said at Jimbaran, Nusa Dua, Bali, on Tuesday when officially opening the Government of Indonesia?s Meeting With International Key Partners on Avian Influenza.
However, he said that the bird flu disease has affected the social and economic sectors enormously,
Thousands of poultry, mostly chicken, had died of the disease and many others had to be killed to prevent the spread of the Avian Influenza virus to wider areas, he said. Millions of US dollars had been spent for preventive measures and containment efforts, he said.
Indonesia has conducted various efforts and breakthrough to deal with the deadly disease, including through cooperation with other countries and international organizations, the minister said.
“We have instructed the Agriculture Minister and local administrations to move rapidly and accurately in containing and dealing with the bird flu disease,” Coordinating Minister Aburizal Bakrie, who is concurrently chairman of the National Committee of Birth Flu Control and Influenza Pandemic Preparedness.
He called on the Indonesian people to actively participate in the bird flu fight. He said that the bird flu virus or H5NI was currently infected through poultry to human, and there was no human-to-human infection case so far in Indonesia. Of the country’s 33 provinces, 12 provinces were reported to have bird flu cases.
The two-day international meeting was attended by 150 domestic and foreign participants, including Indonesia?s Agriculture Minister Dr Anton Apriyantono and David Nabarro of UNSIC.
The participating countries included China, Canada, Britain, the Netherlands, Germany, South Korea, New Zealand, Finland, and Russia. International organizations represented in the meeting were among other things FOA, WHO, UNDP, and UNICEF.