The battle against bird flu is being fought in Jakarta’s crowded kampung — its densely packed urban villages.
It’s a grim, unpopular task, but authorities are trying to prevent another outbreak of avian influenza, which has killed about 170 people in Indonesia over 10 years.
The disease has the potential to spread quickly through the crowded lanes of greater Jakarta, home to almost 30 million people and an uncountable number of birds kept for food, eggs, or as pets.
The ABC accompanied a team from the Central Jakarta Government with the messy, unpopular task of finding uncaged birds and killing them.
The team is led by the area’s chief vet, Hasudungan Sidabalok, and we’re accompanied by police and army liaison officers, in case of trouble.
“We’re sweeping for birds that are illegal to be kept as pets,” he said.
“We’ve done this kind of sweeping before but people are just so stubborn.”
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