Jakarta bird flu hospital overwhelmed with patients
(Add quotes from welfare, health ministers)
By Mita Valina Liem and Yoga Rusmana
JAKARTA, Jan 15 (Reuters) - One of two hospitals designated to treat bird flu cases in the Indonesian capital has been overwhelmed with patients with symptoms of the disease, a doctor said on Monday.
In response to a new surge in cases, two Indonesian ministers said the government was pressing for a ban on backyard fowl in three provincial areas worst hit by the H5N1 bird flu virus.
Four Indonesians have died this year after a six-week lull in cases, taking the number of human deaths from bird flu in the country to 61, the highest of any country.
Nine people with bird flu symptoms, including a 5-year-old girls in intensive care, were being treated at Jakarta's Persahabatan hospital and its isolation rooms could accept no more patients, the head of the hospital's bird flu ward said.
"If we get more patients, we will send them to Sulianti Saroso," Muchtar Ichsan told Reuters, referring the country's main bird flu treatment centre in North Jakarta.
Seven of the patients at Persahabatan came from Bekasi, a town east of Jakarta, said Muhammad Nadirin, a doctor at the bird flu information centre.
An 18-year-old man being treated in Persahabatan has been confirmed to have bird flu after his mother died of the disease on Thursday.
The man's father, from Serpong in west Java, was also being treated for similar symptoms but two tests found he did not have the H5N1 virus. More tests would be conducted.
Nyoman Kandun, director-general of communicable disease control at the health ministry, said on Saturday the positive test of the son signalled a cluster case but there was no evidence of human-to-human transmission of the virus so far.
The largest known cluster of human bird flu cases worldwide occurred in May 2006 in the Karo district of North Sumatra province, where as many as seven people in an extended family died. The cluster triggered fears the virus had mutated into a form that could spread easily between people.
BACKYARD FOWL
Aburizal Bakrie, coordinating minister for welfare, said the government had recommended provincial governments in West Java, Banten and Jakarta ban backyard fowl in housing areas to reduce the risk of bird flu spreading to humans.
Millions of backyard chickens live in close proximity to humans and health education campaigns have often been patchy and rules difficult to enforce with the country's power structure increasingly devolved to the provinces.
"We are taking the step because the current condition has reached emergency health levels," Bakrie told a news conference, adding owners of backyard fowl would receive compensation of 12,500 rupiah ($1.40) per bird once the ban was in place.
Although Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari said the ban would come into force in a couple of days and be extended to 14 other high-risk provinces, local governments have the final say and previous attempts to prevent people from keeping fowl have met with stiff resistance.
Bird flu is endemic in around half of Indonesia's 33 provinces and the vast, developing country has struggled to contain the disease. Indonesian officials have, however, said they have made progress in their efforts to fight bird flu. ($1 = 9,110 rupiah) (Additional reporting by Yoga Rusmana)
By Mita Valina Liem and Yoga Rusmana
JAKARTA, Jan 15 (Reuters) - One of two hospitals designated to treat bird flu cases in the Indonesian capital has been overwhelmed with patients with symptoms of the disease, a doctor said on Monday.
In response to a new surge in cases, two Indonesian ministers said the government was pressing for a ban on backyard fowl in three provincial areas worst hit by the H5N1 bird flu virus.
Four Indonesians have died this year after a six-week lull in cases, taking the number of human deaths from bird flu in the country to 61, the highest of any country.
Nine people with bird flu symptoms, including a 5-year-old girls in intensive care, were being treated at Jakarta's Persahabatan hospital and its isolation rooms could accept no more patients, the head of the hospital's bird flu ward said.
"If we get more patients, we will send them to Sulianti Saroso," Muchtar Ichsan told Reuters, referring the country's main bird flu treatment centre in North Jakarta.
Seven of the patients at Persahabatan came from Bekasi, a town east of Jakarta, said Muhammad Nadirin, a doctor at the bird flu information centre.
An 18-year-old man being treated in Persahabatan has been confirmed to have bird flu after his mother died of the disease on Thursday.
The man's father, from Serpong in west Java, was also being treated for similar symptoms but two tests found he did not have the H5N1 virus. More tests would be conducted.
Nyoman Kandun, director-general of communicable disease control at the health ministry, said on Saturday the positive test of the son signalled a cluster case but there was no evidence of human-to-human transmission of the virus so far.
The largest known cluster of human bird flu cases worldwide occurred in May 2006 in the Karo district of North Sumatra province, where as many as seven people in an extended family died. The cluster triggered fears the virus had mutated into a form that could spread easily between people.
BACKYARD FOWL
Aburizal Bakrie, coordinating minister for welfare, said the government had recommended provincial governments in West Java, Banten and Jakarta ban backyard fowl in housing areas to reduce the risk of bird flu spreading to humans.
Millions of backyard chickens live in close proximity to humans and health education campaigns have often been patchy and rules difficult to enforce with the country's power structure increasingly devolved to the provinces.
"We are taking the step because the current condition has reached emergency health levels," Bakrie told a news conference, adding owners of backyard fowl would receive compensation of 12,500 rupiah ($1.40) per bird once the ban was in place.
Although Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari said the ban would come into force in a couple of days and be extended to 14 other high-risk provinces, local governments have the final say and previous attempts to prevent people from keeping fowl have met with stiff resistance.
Bird flu is endemic in around half of Indonesia's 33 provinces and the vast, developing country has struggled to contain the disease. Indonesian officials have, however, said they have made progress in their efforts to fight bird flu. ($1 = 9,110 rupiah) (Additional reporting by Yoga Rusmana)
© Thomson Reuters 2008 All rights reserved
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