Public Needs To Be Aware Of Bird Flu, But Don't Panic

ILLUSTRATION ANTARA

JAKARTA - Management of the Indonesian Pulmonary Specialist Doctors Association (PDPI) Dr. dr. Erlina Burhan, MSc, SpP(K) said the public needs to be aware of bird flu, but don't panic because until now cases of infectious diseases in poultry are still under control.

"There is no need to panic, because until now there have been cases of infectious diseases in poultry, but you need to remain cautious because the situation is very dynamic," said Erlina Burhan at the Avian Flu Disease Precautions Webinar, as reported by ANTARA, Friday, March 3.

Erlina Burhan explained Bird flu is another name for avian influenza, which is an infectious disease in poultry caused by the type A influenza virus or the H5N1 virus.

She stated that H5N1 is classified as high pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), which is a zoonotic disease originating from poultry that is highly fatal and contagious.

"However, as time goes by, extraordinary HPAI events in the world are becoming quite under control," she said.

Apart from poultry, she said, this disease can infect various animal species such as pigs, horses, and marine mammals.

She also mentioned that there was one first confirmed case of bird flu in humans causing death in Cambodia.

"Until now the case investigation is still ongoing and no evidence of human-to-human transmission has been found," she said.

Erlina Burhan also said that people must know how bird flu is transmitted so they can prevent it with the right intervention.

"The first transmission is contact with secretions or fluids of infected poultry or poultry feces, or it could be from polluted air or contact with objects contaminated with influenza," she said.

Then she also said that people who have symptoms of influenza-like illness after contact with infected poultry in the last 10 days need to immediately go to the doctor or the nearest health care facility and self-isolate until it is proven that they are not infected with Bird Flu.

"Once again we urge the public not to panic, because there is still no evidence of human-to-human transmission like COVID-19, this is just from poultry to humans, but stay alert," she said.