Via Antara: Bird flu kills hundreds of Lampung chickens. Excerpt:
Hundreds of chickens in Kota Metro, Lampung Province, suddenly died this week, causing local chicken breeders to suffer material losses.
Suyadi, 31-year-old local chicken breeder, said here Wednesday that he did not know the exact causes of his chickens` sudden death but he suspected the bird flu viruses of being the killers.
“I firstly found that a few chickens suddenly died but the number got increased dramatically from day to day. I have lost a few hundreds,” said the East Metro subdistrict`s resident.
Suyadi said the local agricultural office`s workers had given disinfectant to his chicken cages but he failed to keep them clean during the rainy season. As a result, his chickens remained vulnerable to the attacks of dangerous diseases, he said.
Jaelani said hundreds of his chickens also suffered sudden death during this rainy season. The 40-year-old chicken breeder of North Metro subdistrict said the bird flu viruses might have caused the death of his 200 - 300 chickens.
Therefore, he urged local veterinarians and other related authorities to take immediate actions to halt the spread of bird flu viruses and conduct the awareness campaigns.
“The awareness campaign is needed because not all people here have well understood about the dangers of bird flu viruses and how to handle them,” he said.
Jaelani said not all people had known what to do when the viruses attacked their chickens.
If Indonesian chicken farmers still don’t know how to handle outbreaks in their poultry, five or six years after the first appearance of H5N1 in the country, it’s not their fault. It’s their government’s fault.
