The measures aimed to control fresh outbreaks of the H5N1 bird flu virus, which began ravaging Asian poultry stocks in late 2003.

The virus has killed more than 160 people worldwide, and scientists fear it could mutate into a form that is easily transmitted between people, possibly creating a pandemic that could kill millions.

In the Indonesian capital, about 300 people took home fresh chicken meat from a field where residents voluntarily turned in about 10,000 chickens, ducks, quail and doves for slaughter ahead of a government threat to go door to door seizing birds in February.

The Japan Times Weekly: Jan. 27, 2007
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