Re: How is the bird flu effecting the small chicken producer

From: laurie \(Mother Mastiff\) (mastiffsyourteeth_at_bellsouth.net)
Date: 03/16/05 

Date: Tue, 15 Mar 2005 20:41:31 -0500

> I can really understand the concern -- BUT
> until [when] this virus mutates into the form that CAN go pandemic its
> only
> an theoretical problem

It has done in the past. The terrible international Influenza epidemic of
1918 (which caused my mother to be born at home in the US, the hospital was
overflowing and the doctor told my grandmother that she and the baby, if
exposed, were at greater risk to die) reportedly came from infected poultry.
Wasn't it spread by troop movements related to WWII?

A couple of times in recent years, there HAS been a species jump of AI from
fowl to humans and swine in Hong Kong. I remember the ProMed reportage.

The current epidemic in Vietnam is a matter of AI jumping species again.

In this case, apparently drinking fresh duck blood is some rite of spring or
gourmet treat in Vietnam, and several recent reports of affected people have
noted that they drank raw duck's blood, and that was the probable route of
infection.

However, once an adaptable disease has jumped species and adapted to a human
host, it may also be transmissible from human to human.

One recent death in Vietnam was a male nurse who had taken care of two AI
patients in the hospital, then died of it himself. There was no record of
his having drunk duck blood.

> I have not seen anything that suggests this bug lives in dead meat --
> hence
> the drive to cull in the past outbreaks [[[its very worrying that the
> present one is not being treated in the same way -- -there is a terrifying
> acceptance in parts of the region that that AI strain is here to stay in
> their birds]]]

In Vietnam 1,500,000 birds have been seized and destroyed this year. Are
some affected regions not depopulating? Had not seen that, but have been
living on the fly lately with a wretched out of town job, and have not read
every infectious disease post.

> China may have been the place it started -- so countries can be OH SO
> righteous about not importing from China ----- huh -- that is not where
> the
> places that many of the EU and USA companies have their rearing units

I'm thick from lack of sleep, could you please paraphrase that? Are you
saying that EU and USA companies have AI already? Or that they are located
where they are at risk?

Oh, I have a draft web page up now for my dark eggers, visit it if you have
a chance! 

-- 
laurie (Mother Mastiff)
Please review my draft web page about my birds, www.mothermastiff.com
(You can use the Contact page to send feedback!)
N.B., Please remove "your teeth" to reply!

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