Indonesia suffered financial losses of Rp4.1 trillion due to bird flu (avian influenza/AI) outbreaks during 2004-2007, ANTARA quoted chief of the National Committee on Bird Flu Control Bayu Krisnamurthi as saying. In a statement here Monday, Bayu said the losses were estimated based on the impact of bird flu outbreaks during 2004-2007 using the Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model. The impact calculated in the estimation was financial losses due to chicken culls, reduced demand for poultry products, lower chicken and egg consumption, costs incurred by farmers as well as the government for bird flu control, and the decline in the number of tourist visits. "They do not yet include the loss of job opportunities and a decline in consumption of animal-based protein which in effect has reduced the people's quality of life," he said. The losses, he continued, might increase when the disease has entered its pre-endemic and pandemic level, when it widely spreads among humans. "If the pandemic really happens, then the economic losses will be greater. An economic simulation based on 2006 data showed that short-term losses will reach Rp14 trillion to Rp48 trillion. Long- term losses will be much bigger than that," he said. The government is continuing making efforts to control bird flu, prevent it from spreading in a bid to prevent greater losses. According to Bayu, programs to control bird flu in Indonesia had shown progress, both in communication and surveillance, managing the virus spread in poultry and humans, as well as efforts to anticipate a possible pandemic. The authorities would improve its control over program from time to time, he said. AI infection on poultry which was first reported in 2003 has spread fast and infected poultry in 31 out of 33 provinces in Indonesia. The disease has become endemic in Java, Sumatra, Bali and South Sulawesi. Similarly, the bird flu virus has continued to be transmitted from poultry to humans. According to Health Ministry data, the number of bird flu cases in the country has reached 129 , 105 of which ended in the patient's death.
