Friday, January 26, 2007
Indonesia raises bird flu alert level calls on military to help
Indonesia called on the military on Friday to help fight bird flu, a day after a young girl became the country’s sixth victim this month.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ordered the military chief to deploy soldiers to help fight the disease, Cabinet Secretary Sudi Silalahi told reporters.
“He called on governors, regents, mayors to be more active in leading efforts to fight bird flu in affected areas,” Silalahi said after ministers held talks with Yudhoyono.
The sense of alarm was highlighted by the country’s welfare minister earlier in the day.
“Even though our continued effort is giving some significant progress, we are still on highest alert,” Aburizal Bakrie, said at a ceremony to receive 100,000 sets of protective equipment donated by the United States.
Indonesia has the highest bird flu death toll and is stepping up efforts to stamp out the disease after a flare up in cases this year.
“Indonesia is very serious in addressing this threat,” Bakrie said a day after a six year-old girl died, becoming Indonesia’s 63rd victim of the disease that has killed 164 people globally since 2003.
He said the government had succeeded in containing human infections in nine of the 30 high-risk provinces.
The disease, however, remains endemic in fowl in some of the most densely populated parts of Indonesia, including Java.
Avian influenza story source: Reuters’ Alert Net