National

Health Minister: Iwan Iswara’s Family Positively Infected with Bird Flu Virus
Thursday, 21 July, 2005 | 05:55 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:Indonesian Minister of Health Siti Fadilah Supari has said that the family of Iwan Iswara positively were infected with bird flu virus.

Based on the temporary results of the laboratory investigation in Hong Kong, they were infected with H5NI type bird flu virus.

However, Suparti has not yet made it clear how the family of Iwan Iswara was infected by the virus.

“This family was positively infected with conventional bird flu rather than a new virus,” Supari stated before meeting Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Wednesday (20/07).

The Health Minister said that it was unnecessary for the public to panic regarding this because the virus could not spread from human to human.

Supari also said that the Health Ministry has formed expert, socialization, legal support and survey team sto prevent the spread of the disease.

“We still conducting investigations on the field as well as personal investigation,” she stated.

Asked whether or not the government has conducted preventative measures, Supari said that these had been carried out by the Ministry of Agriculture.

“The Agriculture Ministry’s Director General for Farming must move fast and I think they are already quite prepared,” she stated.

Supari stated that members of the general public must not be panic.

However, if they consume chicken and eggs, it is recommended that the food be cooked properly.

If the bird flu virus is also found in other regions, the government must conduct a survey on the people who have had contact with the fowl assumed to have brought the virus. (Sunariah-Tempo News Room)