Monday, February 20, 2006

Bird Flu ( Avian Flu) ( H5N1 virus) & Bangalore- Are we prepared?

Bird Flu ( Avian Flu) ( H5N1 virus) & Bangalore- Are we prepared?

Bird Flu has made its presence known on Indian shores by the death of birds in Maharashtra. What has come to light is that it appears to have been present in India for a few days at least before it came to light.

It at present is transmitted from bird to Man. Now that it has made the hop from Bird to Man, after mutation and recombination with already existing influenza virus in Man, it could modify into a strain more deadly, which can be transmitted from one human to another.

The hygiene and precautionary measures in India are far from satisfactory. Photos in newspapers and video clips showed personnel handling dead fowls with their bare hands, and injecting live ones while holding them in their bare hands.

The immediate public reaction was shock & the boycott of purchase of poultry. But the virus at present isn’t transmitted from “well-cooked” poultry. But in how many restaurants in Bangalore can you expect dishes to be well-cooked?

The stated method is transmission from sick birds to humans. The food chain before a poultry product or an egg reaches your table is,
Chicken / or egg is taken from farms by humans (possible bird influenza victims)
Chicken/ egg brought to open market for sale by the seller (possible bird influenza victim)
Chicken / egg sold to servant/ restaurant (possible bird influenza victim)
Chicken/ egg lying around in a non-vegetarian restaurant/ hotel before cooking (remember the same cooks and waiters are moving around with exposure to it) (possible bird influenza victims)
Finally at your table, if it hasn’t been cooked properly it could still carry it.

Also remember that it is just another flu virus, so it could hop from human to human in the same way that ‘normal’ flu is transmitted. So aerial route is a possibility?

How many poultry farmers will voluntarily cull their source of livelihood? Will the government give any incentive to them so that they cull them? With the prices dropping will the business minds try and make a “killing” on profits by substituting other products with “cheaper” chicken, and kill the customer in the bargain?

What can we do if it reaches Bangalore? Are we prepared? Is the government prepared? These are questions that we have to ask ourselves and the government?

Could it be like the Plague which struck Bangalore in earlier times and resulted in the creation of new layouts?


The route an Avian virus could take...


A few links where you can get info on Avian flu are:

http://www.medicinenet.com/bird_flu/article.htm
http://www.birdflu.org.cn/

1 Comments:

At 10:55 AM, Anonymous nishant said...

sir already BIRD FLU IS occure in bangalore GOVT OF INDIA CENTRAL POULTRY BREEDING FARM HESSARGHATTA, THE COMPLETE FARM IS VANISHED no bird all dead, this within a week from 15 october2012 to 22 oct 2012, we dont know why govt is not removing / culling the birds available int the farm, as on todays information all turkeys are dead and the farm is closed. IS govt answer about this?

 

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