Indonesia had found clues that the livestock around the residence of four
blood-related people dying on bird flu recently in North Sumatra were possibly
contracted by the H5N1 virus, Minister of Agriculture Anton Apriantono
said in Jakarta yesterday.
The results were negative at the first examination and more tests were needed
to confirm that the pigs, chickens and ducks near the houses of the four were
positively infected by avian influenza virus, he told reporters on the sideline
of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization's 28th Regional
Conference for Asia and the Pacific Region.
"Ten out of 11 pigs' blood samples were positive (in the serologic test) and
also on the chicken and ducks," he said, adding that PCR (polymerase chain
reaction) test was still needed to detect DNA to finally determine whether the
blood sample was positively infected by the H5N1 virus.
The minister said that the government would stamp out the poultry in radius
of one kilometer from the infected source if they were confirmed of having
contracted the disease.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has recently confirmed fourpeople in
North Sumatra province and one in East Java province dying of the highly
pathogenic H5N1 virus, raising the human deathof bird flu in the country to 30.
As the disease has spread to most areas of the world, experts fear that the
virus mutates into a certain form that can easily transmit from human to human,
which can kills millions of people.
