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Another bird flu scare (1 Viewer)

Andy Adcock

Andy Adcock

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Cyprus
Another over-reaction?

Not sure how many human deaths there have been World wide but maybe only a hundred and none of those in Europe or the 'developed' World.

I suppose the argument could be made that this is down to the safegurds put in place such as this but if wild birds are found to be carrying the flu, it would seem to be a token gesture and just a matter of time before there is an outbreak in Europe somewhere?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38231416


A
 
andyadcock said:
Another over-reaction?

Not sure how many human deaths there have been World wide but maybe only a hundred and none of those in Europe or the 'developed' World.

I suppose the argument could be made that this is down to the safeguards put in place such as this but if wild birds are found to be carrying the flu, it would seem to be a token gesture and just a matter of time before there is an outbreak in Europe somewhere?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38231416


A
Click to expand...

I am thinking the same way, Andy - it is a scare tactic once more, and worse of all just before Xmas when Turkey farms are selling their produce for Xmas fayre 2016.
The BBC news on the TV tells all poultry farmers to lock up their birds, (including free range birds), and all other bird keepers to do the same :eek!:

I also noted a errrrr a 'newsworthy' comment about migratory birds being a strong contender to increase the chances of spreading the disease everywhere. :smoke:

IMHO, I always believe human husbandry/behaviour create the problems when it comes to many diseases, and they are the ones who should be liable for the consequences of their actions (not to blame the animals involved)

I hope this scare blows over, and does not create a storm in a teacup.
 
So this measure is aimed at birds that will end up in the food chain is it, can the disease only be caught through ingestion?

What about racing pigeons and the like, they will come in to contact with wild birds and can potentially pass it on through contact with their owners?


A
 
I listened to Radio 2 while a passenger in a car, and people are busy talking about their poultry, birds etc...

Apparently, it is against the law to shut in free range/barn chickens in the first place - so the law is being broken?

Meant to say that the chickens are still locked in at night (normal procedure) so the foxes do not get them

Sorry Andy posts crossed over
 
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Says that free range birds have to be kept indoors too - permitted to keep their free range status as it's a compulsory bird health order.

Dunno about racing pigeons. I'd guess it would apply to them too.
 
As we speak, my neighbour has just released his 'homers'......

I assume that this virus can be caught through contact or else why confine farm birds so on that basis Pigeons should come under this edict.


A
 
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this story has nothing to do with human health risks, it's about farm animal health - they are trying to stop outbreaks in UK poultry. Not because this could lead to human illnesses, but because it would be a problem in its own right

James
 
There is the risk that avian flu could combine with human flu, producing something potentially life threatening and easily transferable between humans. However, as I understand it, this is considered more likely to appear in South East Asia where people are in closer contact with the poultry and hygiene / awareness is not as good.
Widespread international travel makes a pandemic a possibility. However, last time we went thru this threat, the resulting deadlier strain of flu was typically lodging deep in the lungs of affected humans, so deep that it was less likely to be coughed around, so not transferring rapidly between humans.

Scary stuff, and as stated above, this current outbreak in Europe is not jumping across to humans.. But watch the panic if there is so much as a single human case.
 
andyadcock said:
Another over-reaction? A
Click to expand...

Not really. Other posters have covered the economic aspect of poultry farms, but the WHO have recorded about 360 deaths worldwide from the initially-identified strain of H5N1. This virus is amongst the fastest evolving known in birds, and subsequent strains have been much less benign, but it's certainly possible that prompt action by governments in culling poultry where new strains have occurred (and culling also in neighbouring areas as a precaution) have reduced the opportunity for cross-species transmission to humans. It has been an expensive strategy, with, I understand, over 500 million chickens culled in China over the years.

From Wikipaedia: "The problem of overlooked but genuine cases is emphasised by occasional reports in which later serology reveals antibodies to the H5N1 infection in the blood of persons who were never known to have bird flu, and who then are confirmed by the WHO only retroactively as "cases." Press reports of such cases, often poultry handlers, have appeared in various countries. The largest number of asymptomatic cases was confirmed in 2006 among Korean workers who had assisted in massive culls of H5N1-infected poultry. This relatively benign Korean strain of H5N1 has died out, and the remaining strains of H5N1 have a higher case fatality rate in humans."

Virus evolution into new strains results in an arms race to develop countermeasures, but it should be borne in mind that it is not a given that each new strain has to be more virulent, but that usually is known for certain only after the event.

It's not uncommon in the media to deliberately over-simplify complex issues and so I would take any newspaper's analysis of presenting bird flu as a simple problem that in their view is risk-free....:eek!:
MJB
PS I know they spell themselves 'Wikipedia', but I'm a staunch supporter of freeing the diphthongs!
 
agree with this, and when I said the story has nothing to do with human health this was an oversimplification/exaggeration. It is a potential serious human health risk, but irrespective of that it is principally an agricultural problem.

Cheers,
James

MJB said:
Not really. Other posters have covered the economic aspect of poultry farms, but the WHO have recorded about 360 deaths worldwide from the initially-identified strain of H5N1. This virus is amongst the fastest evolving known in birds, and subsequent strains have been much less benign, but it's certainly possible that prompt action by governments in culling poultry where new strains have occurred (and culling also in neighbouring areas as a precaution) have reduced the opportunity for cross-species transmission to humans. It has been an expensive strategy, with, I understand, over 500 million chickens culled in China over the years.

From Wikipaedia: "The problem of overlooked but genuine cases is emphasised by occasional reports in which later serology reveals antibodies to the H5N1 infection in the blood of persons who were never known to have bird flu, and who then are confirmed by the WHO only retroactively as "cases." Press reports of such cases, often poultry handlers, have appeared in various countries. The largest number of asymptomatic cases was confirmed in 2006 among Korean workers who had assisted in massive culls of H5N1-infected poultry. This relatively benign Korean strain of H5N1 has died out, and the remaining strains of H5N1 have a higher case fatality rate in humans."

Virus evolution into new strains results in an arms race to develop countermeasures, but it should be borne in mind that it is not a given that each new strain has to be more virulent, but that usually is known for certain only after the event.

It's not uncommon in the media to deliberately over-simplify complex issues and so I would take any newspaper's analysis of presenting bird flu as a simple problem that in their view is risk-free....:eek!:
MJB
PS I know they spell themselves 'Wikipedia', but I'm a staunch supporter of freeing the diphthongs!
Click to expand...
 
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