TOUGH MEASURES

What happened in Indonesia recently can illustrate Cao’s arguments. Four people from Jakarta and its surroundings died of bird flu in the first two weeks of 2007. Residents of the Indonesian capital were ordered to get rid of backyard fowl by the end of January, or birds would be confiscated and destroyed. Jakarta’s governor Sutiyoso took these measures to stem a new flare-up in bird flu. Indonesia’s Public Health Minister also announced that such a ban on backyard poultry would gradually expand to the whole country. Yet many doubt the effectiveness of this ban. Compensation would only be paid out for birds confirmed as having bird flu at 12,500 rupiah (1.4 U.S. dollars) each, or about one third of the market price. As for healthy birds, owners could either sell or consume them before the ban comes into effect. Under this scenario, how could poultry owners be expected to cooperate with the government?

Indonesia has reported the highest number of human deaths from bird flu in the world. Most of the human infections come from close contact with sick birds. The ban on backyard poultry aims to change the traditional practice of daily contact between humans and birds. The government also calls for separating the living environments of humans and animals. But a change in lifestyle usually takes time.

Raising poultry, very popular in many developing countries, demands just a little initial investment and delivers relatively fast returns. For backyard poultry raisers, chicken and ducks around the houses is a stable and cheap source of protein and cash. But the bird flu is posing a challenge to many small-scale poultry raisers.

Take China for example. It raises more than 15 billion birds, which makes it the world’s number one poultry and egg producer. Sixty percent of poultry in China falls into the category of backyard and small-scale poultry. “This means more challenges for bird flu control and prevention efforts, which is still very tough at the moment,” said Li Jinxiang, Deputy Director of the Veterinary Bureau of the Ministry of Agriculture. It is very difficult for backyard poultry raisers to implement all the required control and prevention measures. This is why the Ministry of Agriculture is encouraging the establishment of poultry raising communities and large-scale poultry farms across the country. It will not only improve bird flu control and prevention effectiveness but also promote the quality of poultry products, according to Li.

In order to understand why large-scale poultry farms do better in the control and prevention of bird flu, I visited two modern farms near Beijing and Bangkok. The closed environment and strict biosecurity measures left a deep impression on me. I was also surprised at not being allowed to see even a single bird during each visit. Vehicles from outside are not allowed to enter the farms and every visitor has to go through a disinfection process. The Thai duck farm has a disinfection room right beside the entrance. The room is about five metres long, and disinfectant is sprayed all over. As I went through this room, all my clothes got wet. The Beijing chicken farm uses ultraviolet lamp, whose purple hue is really depressing.