Last week Japan suspended all French poultry imports and threatened a similar ban on the Netherlands. Tests confirmed the deadly h5n1 strain of avian flu had hit a farm in eastern France, the first case of the virus in domestic farm birds in the EU.
Is something we really need to worry about?
What are the chances the bird flu will come here?
And how will it get across the ocean?
There is little possibility of bird flu spreading to the U.S.
Dr. Bob Cook, Chief Veterinarian and Vice President of the Wildlife Conservation Society, says, “We believe it is moving through an illegal trade through wild animals, it is a trade we really have no control over, other than to know that it is probably billions of dollars a year. I think our ports have improved but people find many ways to bring this into the country illegally, drugs, animals, valuables of other sorts.”
Presuming we can control our ports, certainly another hot topic of conversation these days, the next question is, can bird flu naturally migrate to the U.S.?
“What we are seeing in Europe right now in the swans in that these animals likely contracted the disease from domestic poultry now they have it and are moving around Europe, they are regional migrates not global migratory,” says Dr. Cook.
Coming here through migration would be difficult; it would have to be through an intermixing of bird populations from the U.S. and Asia over the Arctic Circle.
“If at all that it would come through the Asia flyaway, through Siberia into Alaska and down into the united states, our movement agencies and a number of other groups are examining birds in northern Alaska and to date that have seen no bird flu, H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza,” states Dr. Cook.
But let’s say it did get here. It’s important to realize, the chickens we eat in the U.S., that you buy in the grocery store, in New York or elsewhere, are raised in isolated areas, that are not accessible to the wild bird population…so they don’t come in contact with each other.
So there’s no way for chicken here to get bird flu from wild birds.
And Dr. Cook says, even if this h5n1 virus does get into the wild bird population, it doesn’t mean it’s going to cause humans here any harm at all…as long as you’re not having direct contact with birds.
“Bird flu is a disease of birds, if we are smart about it and we keep our distance from these wonderful birds of nature, we only have to be concerned that they are suffering from the disease, there is very little risk that it would spread to us,” Dr. Cook believes.
In Jakarta, Indonesia, a health ministry official said bird flu had killed its 20th human victim in that country. A hospital spokesman had said the woman had contact with dead chickens.
So far most victims of bird flu globally have had direct or indirect contact with chickens. Remember: while the virus is highly contagious among poultry and can spread through an entire flock in hours, it remains difficult for humans to catch. So you don’t have to worry needlessly.
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