Ministry Of Health: Indonesia Has The Most Death Cases Due To Bird Flu

UNSPLASH ILLUSTRATION

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) revealed that Indonesia is one of the countries with the most human deaths due to infection with the H51 virus that causes bird flu in the world.

"So bird flu must also be watched out for because it's the animal that is sick, but it can infect humans," said Director of Infectious Disease Prevention and Control of the Ministry of Health Imran Pambudi in a Health Broadcast reported by ANTARA, Monday, March 6.

Imran explained that based on data from the World Health Organization (WHO), since bird flu cases were discovered in 2003 to 2023, there have been 871 cases related to bird flu in humans.

Of these, it has been found that there have been 458 deaths due to bird flu in humans. Unfortunately, 168 of them occurred in Indonesia which made it the country with the most human deaths due to bird flu in the world.

This number, followed by Egypt with 120 deaths, Vietnam with 64 deaths, Cambodia with 38 deaths, and China with 32 deaths refers to the same data.

"All cases exposed to infected poultry come from direct contact," said Imran.

Imran then explained that bird flu itself is a zoonotic disease or a disease that originates from animals and can infect humans. Usually, the disease comes from cats, dogs, or bats. However, bird flu is caused by infected birds.

The mode of transmission should be watched out for, because transmission can occur due to direct contact with the secretions or feces of infected animals. Then the transmission can also be through the air, especially those contaminated by the influenza virus.

Various objects that have been contaminated with the virus can also transmit it to humans. Where the incubation period of transmission occurs within one to seven days. With an average transmission of three to five days.

"Currently there are seven main variants (clades), with 38 sub-clades, of which 21 have been reported in humans," said Imran.

Therefore, Imran appealed to the public to continue to be aware of zoonoses and understand the symptoms of bird flu infection in humans.

Some of the symptoms he mentioned were having a fever of more than 38 degrees Celsius, weakness, coughing, sore throat, muscle aches, abdominal pain, chest pain, and diarrhea.

"Mainly the patient has a history of sick or sudden death of poultry," he said.

He stressed that once symptoms develop, the disease can progress very quickly to severe pulmonary disease with shortness of breath, pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and neurological changes (mental changes or seizures).

Therefore, Imran asked each party to comprehensively work together to protect health as well as the environment, and apply the one health principle so that bird flu does not spread more widely in Indonesia and globally.

Imran also asked those experiencing symptoms not to feel afraid and to prevent panic in society. Prioritize immediately bringing those suspected of being infected, so that appropriate management can be carried out according to the diagnosis at a health facility.

"Of course, although this zoonotic disease doesn't kill as much as COVID-19, yes, the impact on our economy is quite large, especially for breeders," he said.