February 14, 2007

 

Experts fear bird flu may spread during Lunar New Year
 

 

Health officials in Asia are holding their breath days before the Lunar New Year as poultry sales are expected to soar for the region's biggest holiday. 

 

With hundreds of millions of people and poultry on the move before this weekend's festivities, the Associated Press reports that experts are hoping bird flu does not explode. But after three years of warnings about the H5N1 virus, many say they are ready to bring in the Year of the Pig with plenty of poultry.

According to AP, bird flu outbreaks have surged recently, hitting several countries in Asia, Africa and Europe. The virus has affected both rich and poor nations, infecting turkeys earlier this month at a British farm outside of London, while continuing to kill humans in Indonesia the world's worst-hit country with 64 deaths.

 

The H5N1 virus has killed at least 166 people worldwide since it began ravaging poultry stocks across Asia in late 2003. It remains hard for people to catch, but experts worry the virus may mutate into a form that passes easily among humans, potentially igniting a pandemic. So far, most human cases have been traced to contact with infected birds.

 

Animal and human health officials pay special attention to this time of year in Asia because poultry is central to many annual traditions, including offering chicken on altars to the family's ancestors. Just as Thanksgiving isn't complete in the U.S. without turkey, chicken or duck also are the meats of choice for most New Year's feasts.

 

More birds are being moved, smuggled, handled, slaughtered and eaten than any other time of the year in Asia, which increases the risk of poultry outbreaks and human infection all during winter when the virus is typically at its worst.

 

According to Peter Cordingley, spokesman for the World Health Organization's (WHO) Western Pacific Region, the event will move people, with chickens alongside with them, out of what may be infected areas into non-infected areas.

 

Cordingley noted that the virus can travel in thousands of ways¡ªthrough shoes, bags and can survive outside the body for a long time.

The WHO does not recommend that consumers avoid poultry, but instead stresses hygiene and caution during slaughtering and preparation. Poultry and eggs are safe to eat as long as they are properly cooked.

 

In Hong Kong, where fears recently resurfaced after two wild birds tested positive for the H5N1 virus last month, many customers seemed unfazed as they scrambled to prepare for their holiday meals. In the downtown Wan chai market, scores of women stood in line to buy live chickens where it is deemed to bring good fortune.

 

Hong Kong's health authorities will allow 80,000 chickens from mainland China to be imported three days this week, up from the usual 20,000 a day. The government has vowed to strengthen surveillance to keep infected poultry out, and poultry markets will be closed for disinfecting on the third day of the New Year.

 

In China's biggest city, Shanghai, many people also were not letting bird flu fears trump tradition. But some restaurants had removed popular poultry dishes from their menus just to be safe.

 

However, the popular Shanghai Zhangshengji restaurant had no such concerns, saying they will continue their famous duck soup and will serve other poultry dishes guaranteeing customers that they are bird flu-free.

 

WHO representative Henk Bekedam in China said it's difficult to predict whether human cases will arise over the holiday because it's impossible to know just how much virus will be circulating via poultry.

 

As bird flu becomes a long-term problem, he said animal surveillance is still lacking in many countries, and more work must be done to change risky practices such as people and poultry sleeping under the same roof during winter.

 

In Taiwan, the Centres for Disease Control has warned people to be mindful of bird flu during the Lunar New Year, especially if travelling to areas recently hit by the virus, including Egypt, Indonesia and China.

 

Vietnam also has recently stepped up bird flu controls, including banning duck blood pudding from restaurants and ordering tighter control at borders to clamp down on smuggling. The virus ripped across poultry stocks in the country's southern Mekong Delta last month, the first outbreaks in a year.

 

But despite the recent resurgence, many Vietnamese are not letting it scare them away from poultry markets due to the surge in demand his year.