Indonesia

ECTAD Indonesia

Since 2005 Indonesia has been one of the global epicentres for human H5N1 avian influenza infections with more human cases and fatalities than any other country until 2014. Since the first detection of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus in Indonesia in 2003, the disease has caused the deaths of millions of poultry in 32 of the country’s 34 provinces, disrupting the livelihoods of large numbers of people dependent on poultry-keeping.

The persistent HPAI threat to animal and human health in Indonesia brought the FAO Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD) to Indonesia in 2006. With funding from USAID, AusAID and the Japan Trust Fund, FAO ECTAD has been working closely with the Ministry of Agriculture to enhance its capacity and ability to sustainably control HPAI.  Over the past 10 years, ECTAD Indonesia has empowered around 3,000 animal health officers in 32 provinces, implementing the Avian Influenza Control Programme at village level, in the commercial poultry industry and along the poultry market chain. 

In addition, ECTAD Indonesia has since 2011 implemented four projects on rabies control along with the Government, with the main focus on controlling the disease in the islands of Bali and Flores.

10 YEARS LATER: EMERGING PANDEMIC THREATS 2 PROGRAMME

Today, marking 10 years of partnership between FAO ECTAD and the Government of Indonesia, we are moving in a new direction to tackle not only avian influenza, but also new or re-emerging global health threats which “spill over” into humans from animal populations, including Ebola, MERS-CoV, SARS and Zika. Building upon the success and foundation of the previous avian influenza-focused programme and continuing our collaborative efforts with the Ministry of Agriculture-Directorate General of Livestock and Animal Health Services (DGLAHS), we launched in 2016 the new Emerging Pandemic Threats Programme (EPT2) with funding from USAID. Together with our partners, we are committed to supporting and enhancing the Indonesian government even better in preventing, detecting, and responding to new or re-emerging diseases of animal origin.  


Strengthening Veterinary Services 

  • Assist animal health centres (Puskeswan) to respond to farmers’ needs through the National Veterinary Services (NVS) programme.
  • Monitor HPAI virus circulation in markets and their catchment areas through regular Live Bird Markets (LBM) Surveillance.
  • Introduce integrated database management, and expand government-funded HPAI control activities to reinforce veterinary services.
 

Capacity Building

  • Conduct a series of trainings for government veterinarians, for example on epidemiology and risk assessment, and on laboratory diagnostics (PCR assay and sequencing) for Influenza A virus detection, characterisation and monitoring.
  • Implement the Participatory Disease Surveillance and Response (PDSR) system to detect, respond to and control outbreaks through diagnosis of HPAI using a case definition and a field rapid antigen detection test. 
  • Enhance animal health laboratory biosafety and biosecurity through the FAO Regional Biosafety Programme.

 

Improving Poultry Health

  • Identify best practices in commercial poultry health.
  • Promote the use of appropriate and effective poultry vaccines by farmers.
  • Enhance management to reduce the risk of HPAI and to improve productivity and profits in commercial poultry farms.

 

Establishing Public-Private Partnerships

  • Improve biosecurity along the market chain.
  • Reach out to commercial farmers. 
  • Share data and Influenza virus isolates through the Influenza Virus Monitoring (IVM) network and the IVM Online platform with the purpose of monitoring circulating HPAI viruses and matching HPAI vaccines with current field strains.


Disease Surveillance and Reporting System

Starting from 2006, a Participatory Disease Surveillance and Response (PDSR) system was established for HPAI in 32 out of the 34 provinces in Indonesia. PDSR worked mainly through active surveillance in the initial years, but developed into a passive surveillance system later. In 2009, following an evaluation of the PDSR system, greater emphasis was placed on working with the commercial poultry sector, and a programme was initiated to strengthen relations with and surveillance in the commercial industry, mainly sector 3. The two surveillance systems worked in a complementary manner and more than 10,000 HPAI outbreaks were reported over the years through the PDSR system and the associated SMS gateway. More recently a solely SMS-based animal disease information system (iSIKHNAS) was established by the DGLAHS, and the PDSR system will be integrated into iSIKHNAS in time. 

3-Zone Biosecurity

FAO ECTAD and partners have proven that biosecurity interventions can be simple and effective, yet inexpensive. The 3-Zone Biosecurity model divides a farm into three separate areas according to the associated biosecurity risk; from high disease risk external areas (red zone), to medium risk service areas (yellow zone), to the clean and highly secure access-restricted green zone where the chicken flock is located. Access from the red zone to the yellow zone requires showering and a complete change of clothing and footwear, while further inward access to the green zone requires a second change of footwear to maintain biosecurity standards. 

Implemented in six commercial chicken layer farms since 2012, this simple yet cost-efficient model has rewarded participating farms with positive production and profit outcomes. A study by FAO ECTAD Indonesia shows that for every Rp 1 spent on 3-zone Biosecurity, poultry farmers will gain as much as Rp 12 in profit. Robby Susanto, an FAO ECTAD partner-farmer from Solo, testified how he could increase his profit by 10-11% by implementing the 3-Zone Biosecurity programme. 

The farm biosecurity and poultry vaccination programmes have been further disseminated to support farmers through the FAO ECTAD commercial poultry programme (Pelayanan Veteriner Unggas Komersial – PVUK) in collaboration with local government animal health services (Dinas Peternakan).

Influenza Virus Monitoring (IVM) Online

Influenza virus monitoring and characterization is crucial for the development of local vaccines, effective against the circulating strains of HPAI in Indonesia. The selected challenge strains are used to test the efficacy of new vaccines developed by local commercial vaccine companies. In 2014, the Director General of Livestock and Animal Health Services and FAO ECTAD launched the IVM Online platform to monitor circulating HPAI and other emerging viruses.

The impact of the IVM Online system is indicated by (i) the increasing number of isolates being uploaded to IVM Online; (ii) the increasing number of isolates that have been antigenically and genetically characterized; (iii) the improved knowledge on circulating AI viruses in Indonesia, used to inform vaccination policy; and (iv) the inclusion of university (Airlangga University Veterinary Faculty) and private poultry sector laboratories, as new IVM Network laboratory partners.


  • United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
  • AusAID 
  • JICA
  • Indonesia Dutch Partnership
  • US Department of Agriculture
  • IDRC
  • Ministry of Agriculture (Directorate General of Livestock and Animal Health Services, Directorate of Animal Health, Directorate of Veterinary Public Health, Disease Investigation Centres, NVDAL, Pusvetma, BBLitvet)
  • DKI Jakarta provincial government (BKHI animal health laboratory, Provincial and district Livestock and Animal Health Services)
  • National Commission for Zoonoses Control (KOMNAS Zoonosis)
  • Ministry of Health
  • World Health Organization
  • Ministry of Environment & Forestry
  • The Australia Indonesia Partnership on Emerging Infectious Diseases (AIP-EID) Programme implemented by the Australian Department of Agriculture ASEAN
  • The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  • The Australian Animal Health Laboratory
  • The Japan International Cooperation Agency
  • The Indonesian poultry veterinarians’ association (ADPHI)
  • The National Poultry Health Committee (KKUN).
  • MOH FETP Secretariat; AlertAsia
  • World Animal Protection (formerly the World Society for the Protection of Animals)
  • Global Alliance for Rabies Control (GARC) University of Glasgow, UK.

Contact

Ministry of Agriculture - Building C 6th Floor
Jl. Harsono RM No. 3
Ragunan, Pasar Minggu
Jakarta Selatan 12550