Indonesia shares Bali bird flu sample, culls fowl

JAKARTA, Aug 18 (Reuters) Indonesia has shared with the World Health Organisation a sample of the H5N1 virus that killed a woman on Bali and has also culled 5,000 fowl in a bid to contain the outbreak, officials said today.

Indonesia, the nation worst hit by bird flu with 83 human deaths, has in the past refused to share samples after accusing the global health body of misusing its specimens by sharing them with drug firms without its permission.

Triono Soendoro, head of health research and development of health ministry, said samples of the virus had been shared partly because of the presence of so many foreign tourists on Bali.

''This is a courtesy from Indonesia. But it only for reassessment, for diagnostic purposes, not for future commercial use.'' The official said the sample had been sent three days ago to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, which collaborates with the WHO.

But he said Indonesia would only send more virus samples if a fair mechanism was agreed with the WHO on sharing samples.

WHO officials have said Indonesia's failure to share bird flu samples raised the risks of a global pandemic.

Experts fear the constantly mutating virus could change into a form easily transmitted from person to person and sweep the world.

A 29-year-old Indonesian woman from west Bali died last Sunday of bird flu, the first confirmed human death from the virus on the resort island hugely popular with foreign tourists.

The woman, from a village in the district of Jembrana, 105 km (65 miles) from the Balinese capital Denpasar, was suffering from a high fever before dying of multiple organ failure.

Separately, an official in Jembrana said more than 5,000 fowl had been culled and about 2,000 more would be destroyed.

''It is difficult for us to do it because most are backyard chickens,'' said Gusti Ngurah Sandjaja, head of agriculture office of Jembrana regency.

He also said that a transport ban on moving fowl had been put in place for a month and disinfectant sprayed in many areas.

Bird flu is endemic in bird populations in most parts of Indonesia. In Bali, as in the rest of the country, millions of backyard chickens live in close proximity to people.

News of the woman's death is a blow to Bali, which is the centre of Indonesia's tourism industry and has been trying to shake off the impact of several deadly bomb attacks by Islamic militants in recent years.

REUTERS SKB KKP1718