As Indonesia's death toll from avian influenza
climbs, concerns are rising about the country's ability to control the
virus. The government has convened a meeting of heath experts from around
the world to help it fight the disease.
At least 39 people in Indonesia have died of bird flu since 2003 - 28 of them just
this year. With the outbreak continuing, Jakarta has turned to international experts
for helping fighting the virus.
Indonesia has the second-highest number of human cases, 51 of the H5N1
virus. Only Vietnam, with 93 cases and 42 deaths, has more.
But experts are worried because Vietnam has virtually halted human
cases this year, not a single one so far, while in Indonesia, the numbers
keep rising.
A three-day meeting that began Wednesday in Jakarta is meant to bolster
the country's efforts to contain the H5N1 virus.
The conference aims to address criticism from international donors of
Indonesia's plans for fighting the disease. The country has appealed to
aid organizations and other countries for 900 million dollars to pay for
bird vaccines, public education, and mass poultry culling programs. The
World Bank recently said it needed to see a detailed plan before it would
commit funding.
However, there are some areas where Jakarta is making progress. Paul Gully
is a WHO senior adviser at the conference.He says Indonesia is providing
good surveillance for the disease, and has been able to report outbreaks
quickly.
"...There are actions being taken locally in terms of controlling avian
influenza poultry, and investigation in humans, but I think everyone would
agree a lot more needs to be done," he said.
The H5N1 virus spreads mainly in poultry, most human victims got the
disease from handling sick birds. Many experts advocate killing all birds
exposed to the virus, even those that are still healthy.
But Indonesia has resisted mass culling because of the cost of
compensating the birds' owners, who often depend on their poultry for
income or family meals.
Scientists at the Jakarta meeting also will look into possible changes
in the virus that would allow it to spread easily from person to person.
Experts fear such viral changes could lead to a flu pandemic that could
kill millions of people.
Indonesia has seen several cases in which the virus may have spread from person
to person. The WHO's Gully says, however, it does not appear that the
virus has changed significantly.
"If avian influenza continues human cases will continue to occur, and
then if the right circumstances exist, then probably human to human cases
will again continue to occur," said Gully. "Doesn't necessarily mean that
we're in a different pandemic state, or that the virus has changed. It's
just a question of if the circumstances are right, then probably it will
happen."
The group is scheduled to meet through Friday, and is expected to draft
a joint assessment of the country's anti-bird flu measures and a list of
recommendations on how the country can strengthen its efforts.
|