Merlin, a British charity administering aid to quake survivors, is warning the World Health Organization (WHO) that the makeshift housing puts innocent people at risk of catching the deadly virus.
Dr. Yolanda Bayugo, Merlin's health director in Indonesia, says, "We are concerned that people using poultry sheds as shelter are at risk from avian flu and salmonella."
"In Pundong sub-district of Bantul, where about 35,000 people are homeless, we found more than 100 people taking shelter in six large poultry sheds."
Dr. Bayugo adds, "The sheds, built from bamboo, are each about 200 meters long and are the only surviving structures in the area. One shed was new and had not yet been used to keep chickens. Others, which had been cleared recently, were only partially cleaned and still had chicken droppings lying on bamboo slats."
According to Reuters, the virus has claimed the lives of 36 people in Indonesia since the beginning of 2005. Last month, an outbreak on the neighboring island of Sumatra, killed six people.
