Jakarta’s Flu Scare

Indonesia has long been luckier than its neighbors in dealing with bird flu: until recently, it had avoided the human cases which have cropped up in Thailand and Vietnam. Indonesia’s luck, however, may have run out. In the past two weeks scientists have confirmed two recent bird-flu deaths, and by the end of last week more than 20 people around the country, including a number of children, were being treated as suspected cases. The World Health Organization has said there is no evidence yet of sustained human-to-human transmission, but Indonesians are increasingly worriedand Jakarta’s confused response to the crisis has done little to ease fears. On Sept. 19, after a zoo in the capital reported an outbreak among its birds, the government declared avian flu an “extraordinary event”but officials later admitted they weren’t sure what the designation meant. Two days later, as more suspected human cases appeared in and around Jakarta, Health Minister Siti Fadillah Supari caused a minor panic by telling reporters that the city was experiencing a bird-flu epidemic; she later retracted the comment. “The government effort is not at all coordinated,” says Anton Supit, chairman of the Indonesian Poultry Breeders Association, who complains that officials haven’t told chicken farmers how to protect their flocks.

The Ministry of Agriculture did announce last week that it would begin culling infected birds, as Thailand and Vietnam do, rather than simply vaccinating them. (Vaccinated poultry may continue to spread the H5N1 virus.) But while the government insists it’s doing all it can to control the disease, some are taking preparations into their own hands. One Australian bank has drawn up its own contingency plans for an outbreak and is stocking up on the antiviral drug Tamiflu. When it comes to keeping bird flu at bay, says a bank executive, “We have no faith in the government.”