Peter Roeder
PER
Roeder Peter Roeder
Dr. Peter Roeder, a veterinarian for the United Nations agriculture agency who normally works out of Rome fighting rinderpest, a cattle virus, recently found himself fighting avian flu in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, which the disease took by surprise. Large producers protected their own flocks quickly but the flu became entrenched in "kampong chickens," the millions of free-roaming household birds that roost in trees. But in Indonesia, Dr. Roeder said that cullers kill in the traditional fashion, cutting their throats. That is risky as cut hands can be infected by chicken blood, although there have not yet been any confirmed cases of avian flu among cullers. By contrast Indonesian government teams often arrive in villages at midday when birds are running all over the place. Also, farmers will not cooperate without compensation, and most countries are paying relatively little.