Sjamsul Bahri became director of animal health at the Ministry of Agriculture in September 2005. Since then, bird flu has infected poultry across the sprawling country and is now endemic.

It has been confirmed to have killed 40 Indonesians, the world's second- highest death toll from the disease.

Dudi Gunadi, an agricultural department spokesman, confirmed Bahri has been replaced by another government veterinarian but declined to comment on a Koran Tempo report that said Agriculture Minister Anton Apriyantono criticized his poor handing of the H5N1 virus.

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Indonesia is logging new cases faster than any other nation and experts say that so long as the virus remains endemic in poultry populations, humans will continue to contract the disease.

The country has been criticized for not routinely culling fowl in infected areas, the best way to stop the H5N1 virus from spreading. ASSOCIATED PRESS