Bird flu eradication project in Tangerang

TANGERANG (The Jakarta Post): A project for avian influenza eradication will be piloted in both Tangerang municipality and regency as a cooperative effort between Indonesia and Singapore, an official said Sunday.

"The project aims to identify and anticipate the spread of the H5N1 virus in Indonesia, hence prevent epidemic," Aswadi, head of the regency's agricultural and husbandry agency, was quoted as saying by Antara.

Currently, the neighboring administrations of Jakarta are overwhelmed with a series of cases of deadly bird flu in humans.

The Singapore and Indonesian governments determined both regency and municipality had similar patterns of avian flu virus spread, said Aswadi.

He said the pilot would last for three years and begin in January. In the first stage officials will work with growers, raise public awareness, distribute vaccine and provide compensation to owners of infected fowls.

Both countries signed a cooperative agreement in May for the project to cost Rp 44 billion (US$4.87 million).