A targeted investigation to demonstrate the freedom of West Timor from HPAI H5N1

Abstract

In early 2004 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 virus caused major outbreaks of disease in poultry in Indonesia. The disease was first reported in West Timor in eastern Indonesia in the same year, resulting in the death of approximately one hundred chickens from both commercial and backyard farms; however no evidence of disease has subsequently been reported in West Timor since 2007.A targeted survey was undertaken in 2013 in 2 districts of West Timor. Three hundred village and commercial poultry (292 chickens and 8 Muscovy ducks) from 10 villages and 5 live bird markets (LBMs) were sampled between August and October 2013. Swabs of the cloaca and trachea of the sampled birds were tested using the Anigen® Rapid Test (Bionote). All samples were negative on testing (0%; 95%CI: 0.0–1.2%). From these results it was concluded with a high level of confidence (100%, 95%CI: 99.988, 100) that this population is not infected, and these results, along with a lack of clinical evidence of disease, support the conclusion that West Timor was free from HPAI infection at the time of the survey.