# 2490
Health inspectors with special wardrobes take samples from a chicken for avian influenza tests in Tamangapa village, Makassar, on Saturday. The activity was part of a simulation on how to handle an avian influenza pandemic. (JP/Andi Hajramurni)
Makassar, South Sulawesi - the site of the latest bird-flu scare in Indonesia - reportedly held a bird flu `simulation' on Saturday, involving more than 300 people from various agencies.
The article below lists a remarkable number of activities, given the stated 2-hour duration of the simulation.
At the end of the article we learn that 7 of the 17 patients recently hospitalized in Makassar have been sent home. Apparently 10 still remain hospitalized, although all (reportedly) tested negative for the H5N1 virus.
This report from the Jakarta Post.
Makassar stages first urban bird flu sim
Andi Hajramurni , The Jakarta Post , Makassar | Mon, 11/24/2008 12:31 PM | The Archipelago
Makassar municipality organized a bird flu pandemic simulation in Tamangapa sub district, Manggala district, Makassar, South Sulawesi in an effort to disseminate know-how and to train related institutions on how to cope with a bird flu pandemic.
The two-hour simulation held on Saturday involved at least 300 people from various institutions, including the Health Agency, the Food Self-Reliance and Marine Agency, the Education Agency, the Communication Agency, the National Police, the Indonesian Army and the public service center.
The simulation started with a report about poultry deaths that allegedly triggered the death of two residents. The rapid tests conducted by the local authority at the incident site showed that the affected poultry and the two residents were positively infected by the bird flu virus.
In the simulation, the region then was declared a pandemic-affected area and had to be closed or isolated.
Only the authorities, who wore protective suits, made up of protected clothing, masks, glasses, over-shoes and special gloves, were permitted to enter the affected area to evacuate the victims, to deal with the infected poultry and to sterilize the location, using disinfectant.
The ambulances also had to be sterilized before leaving the bird flu area.
A sterile area was prepared to handle the affected victims and to accommodate people who had just been evacuated from the pandemic location. The authority prepared an emergency post, shelters and a communal kitchen in the sterile location zone for evacuees.
Makassar mayor Andi Herry Iskandar explained that the bird flu virus had been spreading and had infected human beings, causing concern that the pandemic could potentially lead to massive deaths.
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Meanwhile, seven out of 17 bird flu suspected patients in Wahidin Sudirohusodo general hospital in Makassar who have been declared bird flu free have been sent home, while the rest were still at the hospital, for further treatment.
