The government imposed "extraordinary" measures yesterday to keep a bird flu outbreak that has killed four people in Indonesia from spreading, including the forced hospitalization of people who exhibit symptoms of the disease.
In addition to the fatalities, six patients suspected of having the H5N1 strain of bird flu have been admitted to Jakarta's infectious diseases hospital, officials said, two of them zoo employees. Blood samples from the patients have been sent to Hong Kong for testing.
Health Minister Siti Fadila said the government was "very concerned" about the spread of bird flu and had assigned 44 state-owned hospitals to treat avian influenza patients, who will receive free medication.
PHOTO: AP
Those with symptoms of the disease could be admitted by force, she said, adding that the "extraordinary" status would last 21 days but could be renewed if necessary.
Meanwhile, zoos across the sprawling archipelago were taking measures to protect their animals after 19 eagles, peacocks and other birds tested positive for the virus at the popular Ragunan Zoo in south Jakarta, forcing its closure for three weeks.
Two of the zoo's employees were hospitalized yesterday with symptoms of the disease -- a 28-year-old guide and a 39-year-old vendor, I Nyoman Kandun, director general of Communicable Disease Control, said.
Zoos elsewhere in Indonesia were testing birds for the virus, while others sprayed disinfectant in bird cages and stopped accepting new animals.
"With such measures, we believe the park is safe," said Asep Firmansyah, a spokesman for Taman Safari Indonesia just outside the capital.
"However, we will welcome health officials testing the birds at this park," he said.
The virus has swept through poultry populations in large swaths of Asia since 2003, killing 63 people and resulting in the deaths of tens of millions of birds.
A Cabinet meeting was to be held later yesterday to discuss what measures Indonesia should take to fight the disease, after the government reiterated on Monday that it lacks necessary funds to undertake mass culling of birds in areas where outbreaks occur.
Most human cases of bird flu have been linked to sick birds. But the World Health Organization has warned that the virus could mutate into a form that can be easily transmitted between humans, possibly triggering a global pandemic that could kill millions.
DOUBLE-MURDER CASE: The officer told the dispatcher he would check the locations of the callers, but instead headed to a pizzeria, remaining there for about an hour A New Jersey officer has been charged with misconduct after prosecutors said he did not quickly respond to and properly investigate reports of a shooting that turned out to be a double murder, instead allegedly stopping at an ATM and pizzeria. Franklin Township Police Sergeant Kevin Bollaro was the on-duty officer on the evening of Aug. 1, when police received 911 calls reporting gunshots and screaming in Pittstown, about 96km from Manhattan in central New Jersey, Hunterdon County Prosecutor Renee Robeson’s office said. However, rather than responding immediately, prosecutors said GPS data and surveillance video showed Bollaro drove about 3km
Tens of thousands of people on Saturday took to the streets of Spain’s eastern city of Valencia to mark the first anniversary of floods that killed 229 people and to denounce the handling of the disaster. Demonstrators, many carrying photos of the victims, called on regional government head Carlos Mazon to resign over what they said was the slow response to one of Europe’s deadliest natural disasters in decades. “People are still really angry,” said Rosa Cerros, a 42-year-old government worker who took part with her husband and two young daughters. “Why weren’t people evacuated? Its incomprehensible,” she said. Mazon’s
‘MOTHER’ OF THAILAND: In her glamorous heyday in the 1960s, former Thai queen Sirikit mingled with US presidents and superstars such as Elvis Presley The year-long funeral ceremony of former Thai queen Sirikit started yesterday, with grieving royalists set to salute the procession bringing her body to lie in state at Bangkok’s Grand Palace. Members of the royal family are venerated in Thailand, treated by many as semi-divine figures, and lavished with glowing media coverage and gold-adorned portraits hanging in public spaces and private homes nationwide. Sirikit, the mother of Thai King Vajiralongkorn and widow of the nation’s longest-reigning monarch, died late on Friday at the age of 93. Black-and-white tributes to the royal matriarch are being beamed onto towering digital advertizing billboards, on
POWER ABUSE WORRY: Some people warned that the broad language of the treaty could lead to overreach by authorities and enable the repression of government critics Countries signed their first UN treaty targeting cybercrime in Hanoi yesterday, despite opposition from an unlikely band of tech companies and rights groups warning of expanded state surveillance. The new global legal framework aims to bolster international cooperation to fight digital crimes, from child pornography to transnational cyberscams and money laundering. More than 60 countries signed the declaration, which means it would go into force once ratified by those states. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described the signing as an “important milestone,” and that it was “only the beginning.” “Every day, sophisticated scams destroy families, steal migrants and drain billions of dollars from our economy...
RSS