The Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture is prioritizing increased biosecurity and vaccinations over mass culling programs in a bid to prevent avian flu outbreak.

"We will check our current stock of locally made vaccines because substandard ones could actually spread the virus and worsen the situation," ministry director of animal health Sjamsul Bahri who was quoted by the Jakarta Post as saying here on Friday.

Avian flu vaccines must meet a certain minimum standard since they are made of unstable, inactivated viruses that if concocted wrong could infect poultry and widen the outbreak.

The move comes after reports detailing local firms with government licenses skimping on ingredients for the polio vaccine and creating substandard medicines that did not protect children.

"Vaccinations should also have been followed up by monitoring procedures afterwards. Vaccine producers often neglect this, and the ministry should remind them of it," said a veterinarian with the Yogyakarta-based Gadjah Mada University, Darjono, in a discussion.

Sjamsul said that currently there were only seven legal vaccine producers and distributors in the country. "Two of them are importers from Mexico and China," he said.

Sjamsul said vaccinations and promoting biosecurity were the ministry's top priorities, while mass culling remained a last resort because of financial constraints.

A small cull of livestock late July in Tangerang, saw pigs and chickens slaughtered, burned and buried.

The country's poultry population stands at 100 millions.

"Our most feasible procedure would be to maintain high biosecurity," said Sjamsul. The use of disinfectant and masks was a must among people who had a lot of contact with poultry, he said.

The ministry also plans to launch on Oct. 16 a campaign for healthier backyard farming with the Ministry of Health and the Jakarta city's support.

Most people who have contracted bird flu here were found to have be living in areas with backyard farms. Backyard farming is a common practice in traditional households.

Five Indonesians are confirmed to have contracted the virus, of which three of them have died. Health authorities say five others are strongly suspected of having the virus. Their test samples have been sent to a clinic in Hong Kong for confirmation.

Source: Xinhua