Indonesian Villagers Hide Birds And Spread Flu

March 5, 2007 — -- Sofian Suri loves birds. He has been training and selling them at his home for some 30 years, since he was a teenager. So when the Indonesian government ordered Suri to get rid of his flock in compliance with bird flu prevention measures, he did what any bird lover would do. He hid them.

At first he stashed them on his roof. But now that government officials have stopped coming around, he is hiding the birds in plain sight. About two dozen pigeons live in a cubby-style coop across the street from his house. Four smaller birds sit in cages on his porch.

"I really love animals like this. I care for birds, chickens, that is my hobby," he says.

In January, a string of human bird flu deaths in and around the country's capital, Jakarta, prompted the government to impose a ban on backyard birds. City residents were given until Feb. 1 to kill, sell or eat their birds. The government paid owners about $1.40 for every sick bird killed. They paid nothing for healthy birds.

For Suri, complying with the culling would have killed two birds with one stone: He would have lost his beloved birds and a valuable source of income.

"The government won't buy them," Suri complains. "When they destroy the birds, there's no compensation."

Suri represents an additional challenge for health officials. Like many backyard farmers, he is poor, and resistant to measures that cost him money. For poor people, the birds can be a form of insurance.

"If they don't have money, they sell them," explains Wardah Hafidz, an urban poverty advocate. "If they don't buy meat they slaughter the animals. For some … it's a source of money for gambling."

Coexisting with birds is common among the country's poor. As a result, some people feel a special bond with the birds, and do not believe they can be of harm, creating yet another obstacle to effective prevention measures.

"I feel bad for the birds, because they've done nothing wrong," says Sodikin, a bird seller in Jakarta who chose not to give his last name.

Sodikin says he was not told to get rid of his birds, a collection of colorful parrots and parakeets, because they passed health inspections. But if ever asked to make the sacrifice, Sodikin already knows what he would do.

"My choice would be to hide the birds," he admits.

The cooperation of small bird farmers is crucial in preventing the spread of the H5N1 virus.

"The most common [source of the virus] comes from the backyard farmer system, not big farms," says Dr. Suhud Malik with the Indonesian Ministry of Health.

The majority of all human bird flu cases come from direct contact between humans and poultry. But global health organizations fear the virus could mutate into a form that is easily transmittable from human to human, triggering a worldwide pandemic.

According to the World Health Organization, there have been six confirmed human cases of bird flu in Indonesia this year, resulting in five deaths. Overall, more than a third of all bird flu deaths since 2003 have been here, more than any other country.

Indonesia, the world's fourth-most populous nation, has the potential for becoming the epicenter of a bird flu pandemic. The country is home to some 300 million birds.

Indonesia made headlines early this year when government officials withheld H5N1 virus samples from the World Health Organization. Officials from the Southeast Asian nation said they did not want their samples used to make expensive patented vaccines they would later be unable to afford. The country has since reached a tentative agreement to resume sample-sharing and will work out exact details soon.

Meanwhile, Suri continues training his birds. And though he hasn't sold any since the ban was announced, they're still on the market.

"If people want to buy them I can still sell them," he says.

Suri remains undeterred by the recent bird flu deaths or the governmental ban. His fearlessness could potentially lead to a very scary scenario for the rest of the world.