It's very easy to blame bird migration, because then no one's responsible. Migrating birds may introduce the virus into an area, but it is human activity that spreads it. |
Killing wild birds will not help prevent or control avian influenza outbreaks. |
Markets go throughout Kurdistan and occur on mules and donkeys who cross borders here and there. And chickens are small. It's quite difficult to control. |
People need to be informed about the importance of basic hygiene notably washing hands after touching poultry and disinfecting boots or shoes before entering or leaving a poultry farm. They should also be aware of suitable farming practices such as ensuring that poultry are roofed-in to avoid any contact with wild birds and not mixing chickens with other species, such as ducks. |
Poultry meat and eggs ... are safe, and the concern is to ensure that there is no spillover from wildlife to poultry production systems. |
Such plans and field operations must be fully supported by national governments with participation of the private sector. The international community should continue to provide expertise and financial resources. |
The details are still sketchy, and how extensive the problem is still not known, although there are quite a few deaths. |
The measures are an example of how governments should move to contain the virus once it is detected. |
The risk to humans is less if the disease is in wildlife than if it is in poultry. |
The virus may be spreading despite the control measures already taken. |
The virus may be spreading despite the control measures already taken. Far more human and animal exposure to the virus will occur if strict containment does not isolate all known and unknown locations where the bird flu virus is currently present. |
There are other ways diseases move around the world.It could be that wildlife introduced the virus, but through our own activities of commerce, the disease spread. |
They are learning to live with the disease and control it when it appears. |
They cordoned off the area and increased a surveillance zone to about 10 kilometers. Because some of the poultry were inside the 10-kilometer area, they were sequestered -- no movement in, no movement out. There was rapid sending of the samples [for testing], confirmatory diagnosis, quick action on part of the Ministry of Agriculture to hold a press conference and take measures at the local level, and good coordination between the central and provincial governments. |
This is unlikely to make any significant contribution to the protection of humans against avian influenza. |