ABC
News Online
Avian
influenza has been found closer to Australian shores,
with more outbreaks in Indonesia.
The
spread of the poultry disease has slowed across
most Asian countries, but in Indonesia it has spread
as far south as Lombok and West Timor.
Hans
Wagner from the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation
says Indonesia does not have the resources to control
bird flu.
"You
know the veterinary services are stretched to the
limits and then the particular geographical situation
of Indonesia where you have 65 to 70 per cent of
the poultry population is in Java, from where the
one day old chicks are sent to the different islands,
and it's very difficult to control all these movements
and to get a grip on all these movements,"
he said.
The
Australian Chickens Growers Council says the new
outbreaks do not mean Australia's chances of contracting
the disease are any greater, but high quarantine
measures remain in place.
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