The spread of bird flu in Jakarta has been much like the spread of dengue fever and tuberculosis which have been difficult to contain despite the city's tough bylaw on poultry control, an official has said.
"This disease, this virus, it's no simple virus. It's like dengue fever or tuberculosis which are still prevalent in this country," Bayu Krisnamurti, chief executive of the National Commission for Avian Influenza Control, was quoted Monday by local newspaper The Jakarta Post as saying.
Dengue fever, a mosquito borne disease, claimed 86 lives among 31,682 reported cases in the Indonesian capital last year.
As many as 102 people died from bird flu out of some 125 reported cases in Indonesia. Other countries with the highest fatalities include Vietnam, Egypt, China and Thailand, according to data from the World Health Organization.
Jakarta has been the hardest hit city, with 25 deaths resulting from the 29 cases reported, the commission said.
Scientists fear the bird flu viral strain could one day mutate and begin transmitting from human to human, with the worst-case scenario being a global pandemic.
Source:Xinhua
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