The Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB) in Indonesia will begin producing bird flu vaccine in April with support from Japan's Shigeta Animal Pharmaceuticals.

Both sides have jointly established a joint venture called PT IPB Shigeta to produce and market the vaccine.

IPB Shigeta director Kamaludin Zarkasie said Thursday the vaccine will be produced using the reverse genetic technology, which he claimed was the first method ever adopted in the bird flu vaccine production.

"The result is a highly responsive vaccine but safe for human and the environment," he said in a news conference here.

The so-called "Bird CLOSE 5.1" vaccine will be sold at only 600 rupiah (6 U.S. cents) per dosage injected twice in chickens, he said.

The joint venture company has a factory at the IPB campus in Bogor, about 50 km south of Jakarta, with a production capacity of 180 million dosages a year.

Indonesia, where 26 of its 33 provinces have been hit by bird flu, has reported 21 deaths of bird flu in recent years.

Source: Xinhua