A 67 year old patient under observation by the doctors and paramedic in Hangzhou hospital, Zhejiang province, China. He is infected H7N9 avian influenza virus. (REUTERS/Chance Chan)
... I have signed the letter banning poultry import from China into Indonesia... "
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Bogor, West Java (ANTARA News) - Indonesian Agriculture Minister Suswono has signed a regulation to restrict import of poultry from China to prevent the spread of H7N9 avian flu that killed several people in China.

"I have signed the letter banning poultry import from China into Indonesia. It's just for temporary," Minister Suswono said here on Thursday.

Indonesia will reopen its door for poultry imports when China is successful in dealing with the new bird flu subtype and is declared free from the virus, he said.

He believed that import ban would not affect Indonesia's poultry stocks.

"It will not have a significant effect because the import from China is relatively small," he added.

Suswono said the government has had an effective standard procedure in handling avian flu so nothing should be worried.

Reuters reported that Chinese police detained at least 10 people for spreading rumors about the H7N9 bird flu virus, state media said on Wednesday, as the death toll from the new strain rose to nine.

The death toll and number of infections in China from the strain of bird flu first found in humans last month has ticked up daily.

Nine people have died out of 33 confirmed cases of the virus, all in eastern China, according to data from the National Health and Family Planning Commission. State media quoted authorities as saying a vaccine should be ready within months.