The Bali husbandry agency is urging consumers to continue purchasing poultry from breeders based in Bali, rather than elsewhere, to prevent the wider spread of avian influenza. The number of chickens and ducks bred in Bali is still sufficient to cater to consumer demand, the agency stated. At the beginning of the year, the husbandry agency identified that there were over 670,000 ducks being bred throughout the island, mostly in Gianyar and Klungkung.
Meanwhile, there are almost 10 million free-range and factory chickens. “The stocks are sufficient, so actually we don’t need more poultry delivered from outside Bali,” said head of Bali Animal Husbandry Agency I Putu Sumantra. Around 150,000 chickens are consumed on a daily basis in Bali. The smuggling of live poultry into the island is allegedly the main cause of the current outbreak of avian flu. The worst hit area was Kuwum hamlet in Banyuatis, Buleleng, where at least 2,500 ducks, more than half the total 4,000 duck population in the hamlet, succumbed to the outbreak, inflicting huge financial losses on the local Balinese farmers.
Other cases of avian influenza occurred in Tabanan and in Takmung village in Klungkung, where around 500 ducks died. Sumantra acknowledged, though, it was extremely hard to control the stream of live poultry from outside Bali because they commanded better prices here due to the high demand for religious offerings and consumption. Bali still bans the trafficking of live poultry, cows and dogs to today. Laboratory tests have confirmed that the ducks were killed by the new, more malignant strain of the avian influenza virus, known as H5N1 Clade 2.3.2.
A similar strain of the virus killed hundreds of thousands of ducks across farming regions in Java weeks before the first reported case in Bali. On Monday, all offices under Bali’s animal health authorities held a joint coordination meeting related to the threat of avian flu to the island. The spread of avian flu among animals can be prevented by vaccination and applying tight biosecurity measures. Infections may occur through contamination by poultry feces and inhaling the virus. Poultry meat will be free of the disease if cooked at a temperature of at least 70 degrees Celcius.
“While rabies, for the time being, is under control, avian flu is now spreading,” said head of Denpasar Veterinary Agency I Ketut Diarmita on Monday. The husbandry agency cited that in December several dogs had still tested positive for rabies in Bangli regency. A mass vaccination program, covering 300,000 dogs, will be continued next month.
source : bali daily
source : bali daily
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