The Indonesian government slaughtered dozens of pigs, chickens and ducks on Sunday in a district near the capital of Jakarta in an attempt to wipe out bird flu, following first human deaths from avian influenza virus.

Led by Agriculture Minister Anton Apriyanto and witnessed by local government authorities and the farm owners, officials culled a total of 18 pigs, 20 chickens and 20 ducks in Legok Village of Tangerang District.

"We decided that only the positively infected animals were to be destroyed," Anton Apriyanto said.

The minister explained that the decision to kill dozens of the infected animals would be followed by a close surveillance for a month, along with the isolation of the area.

During that period, he said, negotiations would ensue with local residents to persuade them to change their farming businesses from pigs to cows in order to prevent the spread of bird flu.

"It's too risky to allow pig farms located close to poultry farms in this area, after avian influenza virus had been founded," Anton said.

On Wednesday, the Health Ministry said that a man and his two young daughters who died earlier this month in Tangerang had tested positive for the H5N1 strain of the deadly bird flu virus.

According to the Agriculture Ministry, from August 2003 to July 1, 2005, the virus had spread to 21 provinces and 132 districts or cities in Indonesia and already caused the death of 9.53 million chickens.

Source: Xinhua