Indonesia Holds Urgent Avian Influenza Expert Consultation

JAKARTA, Indonesia, June 21, 2006 (ENS) - The continuing avian influenza outbreak in Indonesia, involving both humans and animals, is the focus of a three day international consultation starting today in Jakarta.

On June 13, Indonesia's National Committee for Avian Influenza Control and Pandemic Influenza Preparedness, known as Komnas FBPI, asked the World Health Organization (WHO) and other UN agencies to "urgently convene" an international consultation of experts.

The experts will review the status of the H5N1 bird flu virus in humans and animals, review measures for addressing the widespread presence of the virus in poultry, and offer advice on strategies for reducing the number of human cases.

They also will review lessons learned for rapid response and containment, and provide an authoritative risk assessment of avian influenza in Indonesia in both human and animals.

Doctors at Sulianti Saroso Infectious Diseases Hospital in Jakarta work with Japanese advisers to formulate standard management and treatment guidelines for avian influenza patients. Most Indonesian patients with avian influenza are treated at Sulianti Saroso. (Photo courtesy JICA-Indonesia)

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Health confirmed the country’s 51st case of human infection with the H5N1 virus.

The case, which was fatal, occurred in a 13 year old boy from South Jakarta. He developed symptoms on June 9, one week after helping his grandfather slaughter diseased chickens at the family home. The boy was hospitalized on June 13 and died the following day.

The grandfather remains healthy. Contact tracing and monitoring are under way to ensure no further cases arise from this exposure.

Of the 51 human cases of H5N1 influenza confirmed to date in Indonesia, 39 have been fatal.

"Indonesia has quickly acknowledged all cases publicly, teamed up with WHO for rapid field investigations, and provided virus isolates to the WHO H5 Reference Laboratory Network to enable monitoring of the evolution of the H5N1 virus," said Gully.

Hens on their way to a live bird market, Bali, Indonesia. There they may come in contact with sick birds. (Photo by L. Allen courtesy FAO)

"With this consultation, Indonesia is taking another step to assess how best to protect the health of its people," he said. "The results will certainly be of great importance to all worldwide, who are eyeing the risk of the next pandemic."

This consultation will bring together more than 40 national and international experts from Indonesia's Ministries of Health and of Agriculture, with those from the World Health Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization, UNICEF and experts from Airlangga University Surabaya, Udayana University Bali, Persahabatan Hospital, U.S. Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention, France's Epicentre, Hong Kong University, NAMRU-2 laboratory and Japan's National Institute for Infectious Diseases.

Indonesia became the focus of international attention last month when the largest cluster of human H5N1 cases was identified. The outbreak involved eight members of a single family in Kubu Sembelang village, Karo District, of North Sumatra.

Samples confirmed the presence of the virus in seven members of the family, and it is presumed that the initial case was also infected with H5N1. Seven of the eight family members died. The outbreak was considered controlled on June 12, three weeks after the death of the last case with no new cases reported.

Laboratory training session on avian influenza, Indonesia (Photo by I. Douglas courtesy FAO)

Several viruses have been isolated from the seven confirmed cases in the cluster and these have been fully sequenced at WHO reference laboratories in Hong Kong and the United States. Experts from these laboratories will present their findings for review during the consultation.

The H5N1 virus is considered to be entrenched in poultry throughout much of Indonesia, and this widespread presence of the virus has resulted in a significant number of human cases.

WHO says that unless this situation is urgently addressed, sporadic human cases are likely and human-to-human transmission is possible.

Results from the expert consultation will be provided to Komnas FBPI on Friday. The initial presentations of the Jakarta meeting will be open to the media and there will be a concluding news conference on Friday.