By Ahmad Pathoni JAKARTA, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Residents of the Indonesian capital must get rid of backyard fowl by the end of this month or birds will be confiscated and destroyed, Jakarta's governor said on Wednesday amid an attempt to stem a new flare-up in bird flu. Four people from Jakarta and its surroundings have died this year in a resurgence of bird flu cases. The number of confirmed human deaths from the virus in the country now stands at 61, the highest in the world. "Starting Feb. 1, no one will be allowed to keep poultry in their neighbourhoods," Governor Sutiyoso told a news conference. "Jakartans are advised to voluntarily get rid of their poultry by cooking them properly, or selling or killing them," he said, adding that compensation would only be paid out for birds confirmed as having bird flu. Chicken and other poultry are safe to eat if cooked properly, the World Health Organisation and the U.N. food agency FAO have said. Sutiyoso also said poultry farms, markets and slaughterhouses would be gradually moved away from residential areas. He gave no timeframe for the relocation nor where the farms or slaughterhouses would be moved. Pet birds and those intended for research must be certified by health authorities, he said. Indonesia has struggled to contain the disease as millions of backyard chickens live alongside humans. Health education campaigns have often been patchy. Rules are also difficult to enforce with political power increasingly devolved to the provinces. Indonesian officials have, however, said they have made progress in their efforts to fight bird flu. The government called this week on regional governments to ban backyard fowl in three provinces worst hit by the H5N1 bird flu virus -- Jakarta and neighbouring Banten and West Java. Bayu Krisnamurthi, the chief of the country's agency charged with dealing with bird flu, described the Jakarta governor's move as bold but realistic. He said the decision would likely result in a "momentary shock" to the poultry industry, which involves around 22,000 people, and include price rises in poultry-related products. WOMAN DIES The latest suspected case was of a 45-year-old woman who died on Sunday, said Muhammad Alfan, a spokesman at Karyadi Hospital in Semarang, the capital of Central Java province. Further tests on the woman were being conducted, he added. In Jakarta, the husband of a woman who died of bird flu last week has been discharged from Persahabatan hospital after tests cleared him of the virus, Muchtar Ikhsan, the head of Persahabatan's bird flu ward, said. The man's 18-year-old son who had tested positive for bird flu is still being treated and two new patients with similar symptoms had been admitted, he said. The mother and son case has raised concerns that one may have caught bird flu from the other, although the World Health Organisation has said there is no evidence of the virus spreading between humans. (Additional reporting by Mita Valina Liem)
