Indonesia Neglected Bird Flu Until Too Late, Experts Say

A worker cleans chickens at a small slaughterhouse in Jakarta. Experts say Indonesia covered up the spread of bird flu in poultry until it had begun to sicken humans. (By Achmad Ibrahim -- Associated Press)

A day after the article was published, the Agriculture Ministry fired her.

U.N. officials complained that her dismissal had set back efforts to fight the virus, faulting the government for ousting what they call its most respected animal health expert at the height of a crisis.

Naipospos alleged that bird flu has never been a priority in the Agriculture Ministry. Until recent months, she added, the ministry was even unwilling to tap its $3 million emergency account to pay for disease control measures.

"They could not see the potential threat until there was an actual threat," she said in an interview with The Post last week. "I talked to the minister about it many times. He said a disease outbreak is not a national emergency, not a disaster."

Agriculture Minister Anton Apriyantono said the Indonesian government considers bird flu a matter of great concern. Every morning, he said, he files a report with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on efforts to battle the disease.

"That means our attention is very high on how to address this problem," the minister said in an interview. "The thing is, we don't want to publicize too much about bird flu because of the effect on our farms. Prices have dropped very drastically."

Apriyantono said he fired Naipospos because he was not happy with her handling of bird flu and her working relationship with top ministry officials.

When the virus first appeared in Indonesia in the summer of 2003, government officials were divided over whether the sudden death of hens on a commercial farm on Java island was caused by bird flu or a less virulent ailment, Newcastle disease. Nidom, a professor at Indonesia's Airlangga University, was called in. Within two months, he said, his laboratory research had determined that the ailment was indeed bird flu and was genetically related to a strain found seven years earlier in southern China.

But the owners of major poultry companies, who have personal ties to senior Agriculture Ministry officials, insisted that any containment efforts be done secretly, Naipospos recalled. These eight farming conglomerates, which handle 60 percent of the country's poultry, feared that publicity would harm sales of chicken and eggs. Offering new details in her interview last week, Naipospos said owners even lobbied Indonesia's president at the time, Megawati Sukarnoputri.

"They said, 'It's better to do it with confidentiality. Do a hidden, silent operation,' " Naipospos recounted. "I said, 'It won't work if you do a silent operation. This is a disease that can't be hidden. It's too risky.' "

In late January 2004, Nidom broke ranks and announced his findings to the Indonesian news media. A day later, the Agriculture Ministry confirmed the bird flu outbreak. But already the disease had spread across Java and on to Bali and Sumatra islands.

"It was too late. The virus was everywhere," Nidom recalled.