12 Feb 2006
Bird Flu Detected in Italy and Greece (AP)

EU ChickensWell, it's moving rather inexorably into the heartland of Europe, and it won't be long after that before it travels to the New World as well. Is there anybody out there who actually believes that NAIS would stop this? Or even slow it down? The "experts" are still worried about human pandemics:

The U.N.'s chief bird flu expert said the spread of bird flu, which has been ravaging poultry stocks across Asia since 2003, increased the chance that the virus would mutate into a form transmitted between humans and set off a pandemic. Most human deaths from the disease so far have been linked to contact with infected birds.

and I suppose that they're right. I'm more worried about my girls, and the lack of viable vaccine, and the destruction of my livelihood. Not to mention the roll-through effect this will have on the economy: it'll make BSE look like walk in the park. But there's not much to do at this point other than sit back and wait, and hope for the best.

AP - Bird flu has reached Western Europe, with Italy and Greece announcing Saturday they had detected the H5N1 strain of the virus in dead swans.

(link) [Yahoo! News: Top Stories]

00:00 /Agriculture | 1 comment | permanent link