The chicken coops in Indonesia's earthquake-flattened
Pentong village are filled with salvaged TVs, cooking utensils,
refrigerators - and scores of people. Aid workers fear they could
also contain bird flu.
Flies buzz everywhere, as children play barefoot
on a bamboo slat floor encrusted with chicken droppings. Nearby
chicken feeding trays hold traces of rat waste.
Many in Pentong - and in a broad swath of Java
island - lost their homes when a powerful earthquake struck a week
ago, killing more than 6,200 people. Most survivors are living under
plastic tarps or in any other shelter they can find.
"We are staying here because our houses were
destroyed," said Parji, 60, the owner of one of two large chicken
sheds where more than 50 people are living. Like many Indonesians,
he uses one name.
Aid officials say they're worried the survivors
could catch bird flu. The number of human cases has rocketed in
Indonesia in the past month, and some cases have been reported in
districts around the quake zone. At least 37 Indonesians have died.
"We are concerned that people using poultry
sheds as shelter are at risk from avian flu and possibly salmonella
infection," said Dr. Yolanda Bayugo, health director in Indonesia
for British-based aid group Merlin.
The risk may be low - experts say the H5N1
virus is very hard for humans to catch, and the number of World
Health Organization-confirmed cases is 49 among Indonesia's 220
million people.
But they also fear that if the virus mutates into
a form easily passed between people, it could cause a pandemic that
could kill millions.
Parji said Pentong's 1,000 people spent two nights
in nearby mountains after the earthquake, worried that it would
trigger a tsunami that would inundate the village - even though
the ocean is 10 kilometers (six miles) away.
A giant quake off western Indonesia in 2004 spawned
the massive Indian Ocean tsunami, which killed 131,000 people in
Indonesia. No tsunami followed last week's quake.
"On Monday, some of us came back and moved
into this coop, but first we cleaned it as much as we could,"
Parji said. The 2,500 chickens, he said, had been sold shortly before
the quake.
The villagers moved all their rescued possessions
inside and spread sleeping mats on floor.
Parji said he isn't afraid of bird flu, and no one has advised them
to leave.
