Minister: Bird flu found in chickens throughout Jakarta

Bird flu has been detected throughout the Indonesian capital, while hard-hit Vietnam reported another outbreak as farmers there struggle to sell poultry, officials said today.

"It is very serious," said Indonesian Agriculture Minister Anton Apriyantono. "based on our research, the virus has spread all over the city" of Jakarta.

The findings were announced after random samples were gathered from backyard farms throughout the sprawling capital. Authorities today also destroyed 400 fowl in a residential area of Jakarta near the home of a young girl who died from the disease.

Indonesia has been reluctant to carry out such mass slaughters, citing a lack of money. Affected farmers today were offered some compensation, however, officials said.

The H5N1 virus has been found in 23 of Indonesia’s 30 provinces and has killed seven people.

Swiss-based drug manufacturer Roche will let Indonesia produce the anti-viral drug Tamiflu to help fight cases of bird flu in humans, the country’s health minister said today.

In Vietnam, the country hardest-hit by the virus, officials today reported a new outbreak in southern long an province, the department of animal health said on its website.

Outbreaks have been reported in 19 other provinces throughout the communist country since October, killing or forcing the slaughter of more than 1 million birds, it said.