Bird Flu Blues: Indonesia

The Avian Bird Flu and what it can do to a person, as in death, tends to deter the concerned traveller from even getting off the couch and going overseas for a holiday.

So many articles and warnings appear in the press daily and it is a wonder anybody boards a plane at all and leaves the relative safety of their home country let alone look at a chook!.

If we analyse what the press releases say about this virus and probably what your doctor tells you then the situation of avoiding catching the deadly bug is simple. Stay away from places where chickens are, don't eat chicken in foreign countries where the virus is prevalent and stay away from markets and farms where chickens are bred and sold.

Easier said than done in Indonesia. Chicken is probably the second desired dish in Bali next to Fish, chickens roam the back streets and gangs on the island, and any market you go to there are always chickens for sale or chickens getting the chop. Even at temple ceremonies chickens are slain.

One of my favourite places in Yogyakarta is Pasar Ngasem commonly known as the bird market. It is a cacophony of narrow alleyways with cages stacked from floor to above your head with cages full of singing birds, various animals and yes, chooks!.

Animal traders in the crowded Pramuka market in East Jakarta for instance have heard about the disease but tend to play down concerns. Some people still think bird flu is a harmless old wives tale. Jakarta is one of three provinces with the highest numbers of human cases. Between July 2005 and June 2006, 13 people in the province became infected with bird flu, 11 of whom died.

Then there is Bali. Go to the Sukawati markets, Bukit Mungsu, Pasar Badung or the countless other markets on the island. What’s there - chooks!.

Well I for one do not intend to worry about the chook flu in any way. I fully intend to eat chicken, be around chickens on farms and in markets and yes, I'll even talk to the chooks!.