Indonesia to ban poultry farms in capital

JAKARTA, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Indonesia will re-arrange zoning for the
poultry industry, banning farms and slaughterhouses in the teeming
capital in a bid to stop the spread of the bird flu virus that has
killed four people, an official said on Thursday.

"Looking ahead we will rearrange the poultry industry in Indonesia to
prevent the passing of zoonotic diseases from animals to humans,"
Mathur Riady, director-general of poultry at the Agriculture Ministry
told reporters.

"For instance, there should not be any slaughtering houses for chickens
in greater Jakarta," he said.

"A metropolitan city like Jakarta should not turn into the home of
poultry farms," Riady added. He did not say whether the new rules would
cover backyard slaughtering.

Zoonotic diseases are those that can be transmitted between or are
shared by animals and humans.

It was unclear when the new measures would be effective, and Riady
conceded that the move to ban slaughterhouses and farms in the capital,
a congested city of about 12 million people, would face social and
economic problems.

Some poultry farms in greater Jakarta lie near or in the middle of
residential areas.

Many urban-area households in Indonesia also keep livestock, especially
chickens, in their yards.

Riady said the number of chickens killed by bird flu was 800,000 so far
in 2005, from 5.3 million in the whole of 2004.

The U.N. World Health Organisation last week warned bird flu was moving
towards a form that could be passed between humans and the world had no
time to waste to prevent a pandemic.

Indonesian doctors are observing 11 patients with bird flu-like
symptoms, the health minister said on Thursday, amid fears the avian
influenza outbreak is spreading.

On Monday, the government imposed a state of high alert, which gives
authorities the power to order people showing symptoms of the virus to
be hospitalised.

Besides Indonesia, bird flu has killed 44 people in Vietnam, 12 people
in Thailand and four in Cambodia.


09/22/05 09:33 ET


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