23.11.2005

Poor surveillance outside the capital may mean the number of human avian influenza cases in Indonesia is higher than what has been reported so far, the health minister said Tuesday.
All but two of Indonesia's 11 confirmed cases of avian influenza have occurred in the greater Jakarta area. "Jakarta is better at detecting cases," said Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari. "I'm afraid that there are also many cases in other areas that are going undetected.
Supari added that the government is planning a nationwide campaign to "search for cases at the village level" to measure the extent of the virus in the sprawling country of more than 13,000 islands (Meatingplace.com).