[Kabar-indonesia] Bird flu vaccine import gets go-ahead

[Joyo at aol.com]

also: Parents to sue government over bird flu scare

The Jakarta Post 
Saturday, August 5, 2006

Bird flu vaccine import gets go-ahead

Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung

Despite opposition from critics who fear the move could lead to the 
development of more virulent strains of the bird flu virus, the government awarded the 
country's biggest vaccine producer a tender Friday to import the H5N2 vaccine 
for poultry.

PT Bio Farma president director Marzuki Abdullah said his state-owned firm 
received the tender from the Agriculture Ministry for its offer of Rp 9.36 
billion (US$1.01 million), adding it was the lowest among the competing companies.

Within two weeks from the receipt of the letter, imports can begin from a 
factory in China.

Almost all of Indonesia's 43 human deaths from bird flu have been traced to 
contact with infected poultry.

"We're ready to import the vaccine from our partner Qilu, a vaccine producer 
in China," he said at a press conference ahead of the company's 116th 
anniversary Sunday.

H5N2 is one of the 15 known strains of the type A influenza virus found in 
birds. Although milder than H5N1 that has been transmitted to humans, it caused 
widespread, pathogenic infection in poultry in parts of the United States in 
the early 1980s and in Mexico from 1992-95.

But some biologists have criticized the plan, saying it could lead to the 
mutation of an even more lethal form of H5N1 already rife in local chicken 
populations.

Bio Farma's marketing director Sarimuddin Sulaeman said the company had 50 
million doses of the H5N2 vaccine from China but based on the tender, the 
Agriculture Ministry needed 48 million more to conduct a mass vaccination of poultry 
stock.

He dismissed reports that the order could not be fulfilled due to the closure 
of the Qilu factory in China. He said it was undergoing a six-month 
renovation of its plant, but it had not affected vaccine production.

"Qilu borrows YEBIO Bio Engineer Co. Ltd. of Kingdao to run its vaccine 
production," he said, adding that the latter was one of seven bird flu vaccine 
producers granted an official recommendation from the Chinese government.

When asked about the vaccine's quality, he said the choice was made by 
Agriculture Ministry and the vaccine's content has been directly examined by the 
ministry's team for livestock medicine consumption.

"So if there's any objection, please ask the Agriculture Ministry why we won 
the tender," Sarimuddin said.

Bio Farma also is continuing on its project to produce bird flu vaccine for 
humans by the end of the year. Marzuki met Friday with a team of experts from 
Biken Kanonji Institute of Japan to prepare for transfer of technology.

Under the plan, Bio Farma would prepare the facilities and equipment to 
support the production of the vaccine for humans. It is planning to employ a 
downstream production system, entailing the import of the crude vaccine from a 
number of foreign companies for common influenza. It would then be modified into a 
bird flu vaccine for humans. 

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The Jakarta Post 
Saturday, August 5, 2006

Parents to sue government over bird flu scare

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan

The parents of three young children from North Sumatra's Karo regency who 
were earlier reported as exhibiting classic bird flu symptoms plan to sue the 
provincial administration and the central government for saying their children 
most likely had bird flu.

The plan was disclosed Friday when the parents along with the director of the 
Legal Aid Institute for Health met Karo Regency Legislative Council members.

Institute director Iskandar Sitorus said the lawsuit, which is being prepared 
and is expected to be completed in three weeks, would target Health Minister 
Siti Fadilah Supari and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. The lawsuit will 
be filed at Central Jakarta District Court.

He said they were also considering suing the World Health Organization (WHO), 
the provincial administration and doctors who treated his clients' children.

The three children, two sisters and the son of a neighbor from Sumbul village 
in Kabanjahe, were referred to Adam Malik Hospital in Medan on Tuesday after 
being treated at Kabanjahe Hospital in Karo. Karo is the site of a cluster of 
eight bird flu fatalities in one family who died in May, the world's largest 
single cluster.

But on Thursday, the health minister said preliminary tests on their blood 
samples were negative. However, she warned that the results were tentative 
because they were tested when they were showing symptoms of bird flu, including 
fever and respiratory difficulties. A second test was being carried out to 
confirm the results.

"The health minister should be responsible for her statement that the three 
are suspected of having bird flu and then that they tested negative. These 
statements have made the families of the victims outcasts," he told The Jakarta 
Post after the meeting.

Iskandar said it seemed like the central government was not serious in 
dealing with bird flu, especially in Karo, as seen by the way it named people who it 
suspected had bird flu.

"If the government keeps doing this, it will cause chaos. It simply corrected 
the statement. This is related to people's lives so the government should be 
more careful," he said.

The families, he said, have demanded that the government make a public 
apology and compensate them. But he could not provide details of the compensation 
demanded.

The father of the two girls said since the government announced that his 
children were possible bird flu patients, his family had been shunned by neighbors.

"My girls are OK but the government said they had bird flu. This is not fair 
and then after testing negative the government again says they're free from 
the virus. But these things have brought trouble to my family," said the farmer, 
who has entrusted the case to the institute.

Responding to the case, Karo Regency Legislative Council Speaker Siti Aminah 
said the council would support the plan.

"We'll back you up. Don't be afraid. The council members will support your 
plan," Siti said. 

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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