Bird Flu: Let's not be complacent

Nature is trying to produce another Spanish Flu

Bird flu is something which affects people who live in close proximity with chickens in the Far East. Such is the belief among the common citizens on the streets of the world today. However, it is a threat, an extremely serious threat, against humanity, as serious as the Black Death in Europe in the Middle Ages.

It is also not only confined to Asia and not only confined to chickens. It has bridged the gap between chickens and other birds and according to experts, is ready to make the leap to mankind.

The latest research has produced a declaration by the World Health Organization, the World Organization for Animal Health and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, which state that ducks may be the carriers of the deadly virus H5N1. More importantly, the WHO already warned in August that this strain could easily transform into a human pandemic.

If H5N1 manages to latch itself onto any virus which can be transmitted to humans, it would be a catastrophe, since we do not have any immunity against such a disease.

Yesterday, the three agencies made a joint statement which affirmed that ducks could be the incubators of this virus, transmitting it to other birds and possibly to humans. Laboratory tests revealed that healthy ducks excreted virus levels paramount to already seriously ill chickens, without displaying and visible symptoms.

Therefore the warning signals are not present which would otherwise identify sick birds and the measures to prevent contamination are not put into place, until it is too late. Bird flu has affected China, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand this year and over 100 million birds have been culled, according to the UNO.