Indonesia and Australia Work Together for Contagious Diseases
Tuesday, 15 April, 2008 | 14:12 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: State Minister for Research and Technology Kusmayanto Kadiman and Australian Ambassador Bill Famer signed an agreement on contagious diseases management. The cooperation involves the Ministry of Research and Technology and the Australian Center of cooperation for Biosecurity Research and Curtin University of Technology. Diseases to be managed are bird flu, dengue fever, malaria, and other diseases caused by a virus.

“Many of our most recent research between two countries are important to be used as a guideline to prevent larger contagion of the disease although Indonesia and Australia are different geographically,” said Prof. John MacKenzie from the Center of Cooperation for Biosecurity research and Curtin University of Technology at the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology(BPPT) yesterday.

Research shows the malaria virus, he said, is carried by a bat and transferred to a pig, and eventually to a human. As part of the global community, Australia needs to be prepared for the possibility of new diseases emerging in the future.

Director of Eijkman, Prof Sangkot Marzuki, said that it is hard to predict or to limit the contagion of the disease from one place to another. “With bird flu,we cannot predict where the bird will fly and what virus it will transfer,” he said.

One way to prevent the contagion is through a biosecurity approach or by spraying disinfectant on a regular basis on the animal. The research suggests proper dosage for disinfectant usage.

Cheta Nilawaty