Emmy Fitri, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Despite an improved global preparedness for pandemics, countries, including Indonesia, must remain vigilant and on the look-out for emerging diseases spread from animals to humans, a senior UN official said.

Indonesia has been the country hardest hit by avian influenza and David Nabarro said this year all countries must maintain ongoing efforts to raise public awareness and prevent the spread of diseases caused by the animal kingdom.

"We have seen impacts of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome), HIV/AIDS and BSE (mad cow disease)," UN System Influenza Coordinator Nabarro said here on Wednesday.

"All of these diseases are initially from animals kept by humans.

"Safe animal rearing, either in the backyard or large farming, must therefore be seriously taken into account."

Nabarro said the rapid and widespread impact of SARS when it first hit Hong Kong and then moved across to some southeast Asian countries and even to Canada in 2003 provided a complete scientific example of a pandemic which could be caused by the H5N1 virus — or avian bird flu.

Nabarro also said the importance of the campaign "One World, One Health" was imperative and that it must start at the grass roots level.

He said ongoing efforts to face future challenges in improving public health services, the animal health sector and measured responses from related parties to tackle emergency situations were also imperative.

Indonesia's chief executive of the National Committee for Avian Influenza and Pandemic Preparedness Bayu Krisnamurthi said the archipelago had responded to the UN's call for vigilance.

"We'll change our approach, making efforts to battle bird flu more systemic and sustainable," he said.

"Efforts will include three sectors — human health, animal health and pandemic preparedness.

"Fires occur all the time, but we never have drills on how to deal with that kind of emergency situation," he said.

Bayu said one of the biggest challenges was to revamp the poultry industry and said public awareness campaigns would be intensified with this in mind.

"Vaccines (for poultry) currently available here, especially those in Greater Jakarta, have shown no efficacy with the Tangerang and Depok outbreaks," he added.

While selected culling in the wake of outbreaks would be maintained, restructuring the poultry industry was considered the best way forward, Bayu said.

Commenting on the recent outbreaks Tangerang, scientist Ngurah Mahardhika said it was "high time" for the government to clear poultry from Tangerang because the region was densely populated by humans and poultry.

"The virus (in Tangerang) is not under control," Ngurah said.

"At any cost, poultry must be cleared off housing areas."

Mahardhika said the current "transitional" weather including high humidity was a haven for the virus.

"H5N1 is endemic here but pushing the public's and officials' alertness will hopefully prevent its spread," he said.