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Indonesia shuts down capital zoo after 19 of its birds die of bird flu
http://www.canada.com/health/story.html?id=b982eee3-cbef-4ac5-8622-9e43d53bd9bf
Canadian Press
September 18, 2005
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JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - The main zoo in Indonesia's capital was shut after 19 of its birds died of the avian influenza that has killed four people in the sprawling country, officials said, warning that children are especially vulnerable to the disease.
Three patients, meanwhile, were being treated as suspected bird flu cases at the Sulianti Saroso Infectious Disease Hospital, said Dr. Santoso Suroso, who was awaiting lab tests to confirm whether they had the illness.
There was no evidence that any of the patients was infected at the Ragunan Zoo, he said Sunday.
The H5N1 virus has swept through poultry populations in large swathes of Asia since 2003, resulting in the deaths of tens of millions of birds and 63 people, including a 37-year-old Indonesian woman who died last week.
So far, most human cases have been traced to direct contact with infected birds, but health experts have warned that the virus could mutate and become easily communicable from human to human, possibly triggering a deadly global pandemic.
Young children appear to be especially vulnerable to the disease and news that it killed 19 chickens and other birds at the south Jakarta zoo was cause for alarm, said Rusman, an Agriculture Ministry official who goes by one name.
The zoo will be closed for at least three weeks pending an investigation, he said. Birds that test positive for the disease will be killed and all others will be vaccinated against the virus.
Indonesia recorded its first human fatalities from bird flu in July when a father and his two daughters died after contracting the virus. Officials have linked those deaths to droppings from an infected bird.
Officials have carried out limited vaccinations of some of the estimated 2 billion birds in the country, but say they lack funds to carry out culls of flocks in areas where the virus is prevalent.
The virus has been recorded in 22 of Indonesia's 32 provinces since 2003.
© The Canadian Press 2005
http://www.canada.com/health/story.html?id=b982eee3-cbef-4ac5-8622-9e43d53bd9bf
Canadian Press
September 18, 2005
ADVERTISEMENT
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - The main zoo in Indonesia's capital was shut after 19 of its birds died of the avian influenza that has killed four people in the sprawling country, officials said, warning that children are especially vulnerable to the disease.
Three patients, meanwhile, were being treated as suspected bird flu cases at the Sulianti Saroso Infectious Disease Hospital, said Dr. Santoso Suroso, who was awaiting lab tests to confirm whether they had the illness.
There was no evidence that any of the patients was infected at the Ragunan Zoo, he said Sunday.
The H5N1 virus has swept through poultry populations in large swathes of Asia since 2003, resulting in the deaths of tens of millions of birds and 63 people, including a 37-year-old Indonesian woman who died last week.
So far, most human cases have been traced to direct contact with infected birds, but health experts have warned that the virus could mutate and become easily communicable from human to human, possibly triggering a deadly global pandemic.
Young children appear to be especially vulnerable to the disease and news that it killed 19 chickens and other birds at the south Jakarta zoo was cause for alarm, said Rusman, an Agriculture Ministry official who goes by one name.
The zoo will be closed for at least three weeks pending an investigation, he said. Birds that test positive for the disease will be killed and all others will be vaccinated against the virus.
Indonesia recorded its first human fatalities from bird flu in July when a father and his two daughters died after contracting the virus. Officials have linked those deaths to droppings from an infected bird.
Officials have carried out limited vaccinations of some of the estimated 2 billion birds in the country, but say they lack funds to carry out culls of flocks in areas where the virus is prevalent.
The virus has been recorded in 22 of Indonesia's 32 provinces since 2003.
© The Canadian Press 2005
