[BCNnet] Bird Flu editorial - FYI

[Randi Doeker - Chicago]

I'm probably not the only person on this list who has heard for calls
to kill off all of the IL birds to avoid bird flu. (People think of
birds as an agricultural crop. We just have to get rid of this year's
birds - next year's will be OK.)   Of course, these are not the people
who will read NY Times editorials or other articles with relevant
details; however, I thought you might like the facts.

 

Randi Doeker

Chicago

 

PS:  Google  +mao +sparrow +"great leap forward"  if you want to know
one country's experience with a kill-all-the-birds policy.

 

 

  _____  

 

February 21, 2006

Editorial


Playing Chicken With Bird Flu 


Bird flu has spread to several new countries in recent days, but the
most worrisome by far is Nigeria. Health experts have dreaded the
arrival of avian flu in Africa, a continent where the backyard chicken
is everywhere and veterinary health systems are nowhere. 

Nigeria has reported avian flu in several states in the country's
north. But the outbreak began on Jan. 10 or earlier, and it took
Nigeria 20 days to send samples to a lab that could test them. The
government has announced quarantines on the affected farms, but
visiting reporters say that no quarantines exist and that some of the
farms have not even been visited by animal health officials. Nigeria
is paying far too little for each chicken it kills; that approach
ensures that farmers will hide their flocks. 

Avian flu can be controlled. In the past three years, bird flu broke
out in Malaysia, Korea and Japan, and all three countries eradicated
it, thanks to early warning and quick action that eliminated the flu
by killing only a few thousand chickens. Those countries had systems
in place to test animals regularly and respond rapidly to reports of
signs of danger. But there is no effective veterinary surveillance in
most poor countries. Since each bird-to-human transmission gives the
virus another opportunity to mutate into a form that could cause a
pandemic, the health of the whole world could depend on constructing
it.

Humans are often plagued by zoonotic diseases, which arise first in
animals. In last few years we have had SARS and West Nile and mad cow
diseases, to name a few. Avian flu is now attracting the attention and
money that could help nations build up their veterinary services and
control these threats. 

The World Organization for Animal Health faces overwhelming challenges
in improving veterinary services for these regions and controlling
bird flu outbreaks. The backyard chicken, kept by hundreds of millions
of people in poor countries, has more contact with wild birds and with
people than its industrial cousin. The families who keep chickens have
not been educated about the dangers, and barefoot children continue to
play with sick poultry. Agricultural officials vaccinating poultry can
spread disease as they travel from farm to farm, and chicken-killing
teams may be poorly trained and easily corrupted.

A conference in Beijing in mid-January raised $1.9 billion in pledges
to fight avian flu. Some of the money will go toward veterinary
services, but it will be slow in coming and there are emergencies now.
Rich countries should be sending platoons of veterinary experts to
help Nigeria and its neighbors. 

 

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