Indonesian authorities would intensify surveillance of domesticated and wild birds to determine their suspected role in transmitting the H5N1 avian influenza virus, local media said Wednesday.

The government vowed to step up efforts to tackle spread of the disease, examining backyard chickens and domestic birds, which were believed to be the source of infection for Indonesia's human victims, the Jakarta Post quoted Minister of Agriculture Anton Apriyantono as saying here on Tuesday.

Anton said that his office would start working with the Ministry of Forestry and the Office of the State Minister of Environment "to do research on wild birds and uncaged domestically raised birds."

That would include looking at domestically bred pigeons, he added, declining to provide more details.

The virus, which has killed four people and sickened three others in the country, has taken more than 60 lives across Asia since late 2003, while hundreds of millions of birds and poultry have been killed.

Source: Xinhua