UN gives stark warning about bird flu threat from Indonesia

Any danger that the world has become bored or complacent regarding the threat of bird flu will be dispelled by a stark warning from the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

The FAO says the bird flu virus which is widespread in Indonesia, could very well mutate and cause a human influenza pandemic.

The FAO's Chief Veterinary Officer Joseph Domenech says there is concern that the high level of virus circulation in birds in Indonesia, despite measures undertaken by national authorities and the international community, could create conditions for the virus to mutate and to finally cause a human influenza pandemic.

While the H5N1 avian influenza remains for the most part a disease of birds, it has already killed 235 people around the world of 372 known cases since its outbreak in Asia in 2003.

The FAO says the human mortality rate from bird flu in Indonesia is the highest in the world and more human cases can be expected if more is not done to contain the disease at source in animals; bird flu has now appeared in 31 out of 33 of Indonesia's provinces.

The virus has become deeply entrenched in Indonesia and is endemic in Java, Sumatra, Bali and southern Sulawesi with sporadic outbreaks in other areas.

While experts admit Indonesia's vast archipelago does present huge problems, major control efforts have failed to contain the spread of bird flu in poultry across the country.

It is thought that 20 percent of 1.4 billion chickens are scattered in around 30 million backyards, says Domenech and experts say new H5N1 avian influenza virus strains have recently emerged.

Domenech says this is a worry because vaccines currently in use may not be fully protecting poultry against the disease.

The FAO says major human and financial resources, stronger political commitment and strengthened coordination between the central, province and district authorities are needed to improve surveillance and control measures.

Domenech says the highly decentralized administration, under-resourced national veterinary services, lack of engagement with commercial poultry producers, insufficient international and national financial and human resources for control campaigns and the challenges of implementing a comprehensive communication strategy, are major constraints.

The FAO says applying the main components of a successful national avian influenza control strategy, based on effective surveillance, emergency culling and compensation, vaccination, improved biosecurity, effective laboratory and quarantine procedures, and movement controls of poultry and poultry products is a major challenge for Indonesia.

The FAO is supporting the Indonesian authorities in most of these areas and the agency has helped to train local teams of animal health professionals in disease surveillance and response, many of whom are now actively working with village communities to prevent and control avian influenza.

Major donors, such as USAID, AusAID, Japan and the Netherlands, together with FAO, have so far invested more than $25 million in supporting national control efforts.