Bird flu vaccine import gets go-ahead

Despite opposition from critics who fear the move could lead to the development of more virulent strains of the bird flu virus, the government awarded the country's biggest vaccine producer a tender Friday to import the H5N2 vaccine for poultry.

PT Bio Farma president director Marzuki Abdullah said his state-owned firm received the tender from the Agriculture Ministry for its offer of Rp 9.36 billion (US$1.01 million), adding it was the lowest among the competing companies.

Within two weeks from the receipt of the letter, imports can begin from a factory in China.

Almost all of Indonesia's 43 human deaths from bird flu have been traced to contact with infected poultry.

"We're ready to import the vaccine from our partner Qilu, a vaccine producer in China," he said at a press conference ahead of the company's 116th anniversary Sunday.

H5N2 is one of the 15 known strains of the type A influenza virus found in birds. Although milder than H5N1 that has been transmitted to humans, it caused widespread, pathogenic infection in poultry in parts of the United States in the early 1980s and in Mexico from 1992-95.

But some biologists have criticized the plan, saying it could lead to the mutation of an even more lethal form of H5N1 already rife in local chicken populations.

Bio Farma's marketing director Sarimuddin Sulaeman said the company had 50 million doses of the H5N2 vaccine from China but based on the tender, the Agriculture Ministry needed 48 million more to conduct a mass vaccination of poultry stock.

He dismissed reports that the order could not be fulfilled due to the closure of the Qilu factory in China. He said it was undergoing a six-month renovation of its plant, but it had not affected vaccine production.

"Qilu borrows YEBIO Bio Engineer Co. Ltd. of Kingdao to run its vaccine production," he said, adding that the latter was one of seven bird flu vaccine producers granted an official recommendation from the Chinese government.

When asked about the vaccine's quality, he said the choice was made by Agriculture Ministry and the vaccine's content has been directly examined by the ministry's team for livestock medicine consumption.

"So if there's any objection, please ask the Agriculture Ministry why we won the tender," Sarimuddin said.

Bio Farma also is continuing on its project to produce bird flu vaccine for humans by the end of the year. Marzuki met Friday with a team of experts from Biken Kanonji Institute of Japan to prepare for transfer of technology.