“Already 16 Out of 30 Areas Free of Bird Flu”
Wednesday, 10 January, 2007 | 17:20 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: Aburizal Bakrie, the Coordinating Minister for The People's Welfare, has said that currently 16 out of 30 areas in Indonesia are already claimed to be free of bird flu.

“The remaining 14 areas are not yet free from bird flu, including Jakarta,” he said when answering reporters’ questions during the “Year 2006 Evaluation and the People's Welfare Coordination Policy Plan 2007” press conference at his office, today (10/1).

The areas indicated as being free of bird flu are areas that have not had any bird flu cases in the last six months.

Every bird flu case in Indonesia, he said, either from chickens, ducks or geese, has the same handling system.

“There are already the procedures, no difference because the name is the same, not chicken flu or duck flu,” he said.

Bird flu, he said, was very difficult to handle because the virus carriers are animals that are mobile.

Reh Atemalem Susanti