Headline:

Bird Flu in East Africa Feared

About:

Avian flu (H5N1), better known as the bird flu initially started on Russian and Macedonian farms. It has made its way from South East Asia all the way to the Balkan region affecting other countries along its way. The main fear of the bird flu is where it will strike next. They have predicted it will travel to North Africa and East Africa because of migratory patterns. This would make the outbreak even more widespread because of Africa’s lack of civilization, and close living arrangements with their animals. Birds infected with the disease can be eaten after being properly cooked; however touching the birds uncooked can contaminate a person, some scientists have hypothesized.

Thoughts:

After learning about an outbreak of the same disease in Hong Kong, eight years previous, I knew the seriousness of the issue. Hong Kong had to terminate approximately one million birds a day to defeat the disease. As an animal lover I find this number hard to stomach. However I also realized how serious this could be from a farmer’s point of view, especially third world farmers. Farmers in Africa have the potential to loose their way of income, as well as their primary food source. This flu will have more of an impact on African farmers than any other country that has been contaminated. This is because of lack of cooperation from the farmers. They don’t want their income to be shot and used for scientific testing, and this I can understand completely. I feel that these African farmers are going to be stuck in a bind, and at this point there isn’t a real way to ensure the safety of their poultry or their lives.

In the article there are many scientists talking about what can happen if these farmers do not follow the proper procedure. They also talk about the way African people live in close proximity with their animals. I don’t feel like these people are considering what they are saying. These scientists are not taking into account what they would do in this grievous situation. This could eventually put a lot of African people in a worse state than which they started. Maybe these critics are talking about the lives of birds, and not considering the lives of humans. After their poultry is gone what are they going to eat, how are they going to get money to buy food? This isn’t just about the killing of millions of birds, it is also about the potential death of many African farmers.

-- AmandaSheelar - 21 October 2005

-- DanielleKuehnel - 24 Oct 2005
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