040160 Slaughter of Asian Poultry Urged to Fight Virus

Chicago Tribune - The World Health Organization insisted that the mass slaughter of infected poultry is key to controlling the outbreak of bird flu sweeping Asia, but Indonesia said it doesn't intend to order its farmers to kill their birds.

Two sisters in Vietnam became the latest human fatalities, bringing the death toll to 10.

Health ministers from across Asia held an emergency meeting in Bangkok on Wednesday to consider how to stop the disease but did not reach a consensus on destroying their livestock.

Tens of millions of chickens and ducks have died in Asia, either from the disease or in government- ordered slaughters aimed at containing it.

Indonesia has not officially reported bird flu cases to the World Health Organization but announced Sunday that it was combating the virus. The head of the country's agricultural quarantine agency, Budi Tri Akoso, said Wednesday that slaughtering infected birds would be left to the discretion of farmers. The Indonesian government is considering a vaccination campaign for poultry.

Three international agencies--The World Health Organization, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Organization for Animal Health--have urged killing birds as the best approach. Experts said there is no consensus that vaccination is enough to avert an epidemic, though it can be a potentially helpful addition to slaughter.

China said it has slaughtered about 14,000 livestock birds found within 2 miles of the stricken farms, and poultry from farms within 3 miles was quarantined.

Beijing said in the campaign against the virus, it had slaughtered nearly 60,000 chickens.

"The epidemic is under control," said a dispatch by Xinhua on the front pages of state-controlled newspapers.

However, WHO officials said they hope Indonesia will change its view.

"It seems that [Indonesia] is not yet convinced of the effectiveness of culling. Maybe they are thinking about the social and economic consequences of this because Indonesia is now in the process of election," said Dr. Kumara Rai, director of communicable diseases for WHO's Southeast Asia region. "But hopefully with more advocacy from us they will change their minds."

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