JAKARTA CITY GOVT TIGHTLY WATCHING SIGNS OF SWINE FLU ENTRY

Jakarta, April 28 (ANTARA) - Jakarta's fisheries, maritime and food resilience affairs office is tightly watching the possible entry of swine flu into the capital city in order to take counter measures when it does, a spokesman said.

Although the swine flu has not yet infected pigs here, the city administration will tightly watch movements of pigs in the city, head of the city's fisheries, maritime and food resilience affairs office, Edi Setiarto, said here Tuesday.

"As part of our alertness, we have conducted inspection in the form of sweeping and spraying. We will take quick action if there is a suspected case," he said.

In addition, the fisheries, maritime and food resilience affairs office was intensifying inspection of pigs entering Jakarta and the use of protective devices by pig butchers, he said.

"We are also coordinating with pig supplying regions, namely Central Java which meets 90 percent of Jakarta's demand and North Sumatra which supplies 10 percent," Setiarto said, adding that Jakarta did not have any pig breeding farm.

Jakarta has only one pig slaughtering house or RPH located on a four-hectare plot of land in West Jakarta.

The RPH slaughters an average of 500 pigs daily and has a stock of 1,000 of pigs a day, he said.

"The pigs should be equipped with letter informing their health condition at time of dispatching from the supplying region," he disclosed.

According to him, the RPH workers on duty have been urged to use protecting masks, gloves and special dress, and the slaughtering places should be sprayed with disinfectant every day to prevent the swine flu.

Although the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the swine influenza outbreak as a public health emergency of international concern, there is no instruction to prevent pigs supplying to Jakarta, he pointed out.