U.S. opens health center in Jakarta

The Jakarta Post

JAKARTA: The U.S. government on Monday opened an office in Jakarta that will support the fight against avian influenza in Indonesia.

"This is part of the U.S government's commitment to support the Indonesian government's attempt to fight avian influenza," U.S. Deputy Undersecretary of Agriculture, Charles Lambert, told a media conference here as quoted by detik.com news portal.

The office, run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, has four Indonesian experts and is headed by Max Coats, a veterinarian with extensive experience in designing and executing bird disease control programs.

Since July 2005, the U.S government has spent at least US$25 million to fight bird flu in Indonesia. The money has been used for training programs, to send Indonesian experts to the U.S and to establish a local disease control center.-- JP