Hong Kong to ban backyard poultry farming over bird flu fears

[Guest guest]

Hong Kong to ban backyard poultry farming over bird flu fears

http://news./s/afp/20060207/hl_afp/healthfluhongkong

 

Hmmm...

 

But they aren't banning cats, which can get it by eating wild birds,

and they're not doing anything about wild birds, which have contact

with a lot of people and poop wherever they please. Could there be a

financial motivation?

 

Looks like intensive livestock production (the people who created

this virus) will be getting a huge boost in Hong Kong!

 

If you don't want factory farms to get a nice boost in this country,

write to your reps and ask them to educate the public about

biosecurity and protect backyard birds. (I use congress.org).

 

They are doing a lot of monitoring right now in Alaska, since wild

birds migrate from Russia to there, and then can end up affecting

our West coast migratory routes. So this issue might come up sooner

than you would like. Europeans rebelled and demanded that they

protect free range chickens, so they changed their rules to allow

birds in covered runs that keep out wild birds. Here are the UK

guidelines:

 

http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/diseases/notifiable/disease/ai/poultr

ykeepers.htm

 

And here's an attractive walk-in run that meets biosecurity

guidelines (keeps out wild birds).

 

http://www.chicken-house.co.uk/walkinrun.htm

 

And here's the latest WHO bird flu fact sheet:

 

http://www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/avianinfluenza_factshe

etJan2006/en/index.html

 

Bird flu is in a lot of poor countries, where people might eat a

sick or dead chicken because they are short on food. I see so little

about that in the news.

 

Cheryl

[Guest guest]

I am an epidemiololgist who studies zoonotic diseases (transmissible from

animals to humans). While I agree that intensive agriculture is bad, in the

case of avian flu, the major part of the problem are these backyard farms.

Avian flu has been around for thousands of years in wild birds. It is a

stable virus in these wild birds. It mutates into a more virulent form when

it mixes with other strains, and this is what it is doing in these backyard

farms. They should be banned. Intensive agriculture is not a problem for

avian flu b/c it is in contained, closed spaces.

 

Intensive agriculture is bad for other reasons, but is not involved in the

current avian influenza. If you want to write to you congressman on why

intensive agriculture should be banned for health purposes, cite Antibiotic

resistance in Enterococcus and Staphylococcus species (in the US) and

Menangle virus, Nipah virus, Argentine and Bolivian Hemorrhagic fevers, and

Laguna Negra virus (internationally).

 

Nikki

 

 

 

 

 

> " brunoandherman " <brunoandherman

>

> Hong Kong to ban backyard poultry farming over bird flu

>fears

>Wed, 08 Feb 2006 05:29:17 -0000

>

>Hong Kong to ban backyard poultry farming over bird flu fears

>http://news./s/afp/20060207/hl_afp/healthfluhongkong

>

....

[Guest guest]

Hi,

 

I have spoken to many of our state poultry specialists, and they do

not agree that backyards flocks are the problem. In fact, they

believe that backyard flocks are more isolated and the animals are

kept in better conditions, and as a result are low risk. In

California, they are doing heavy surveillance in areas where there

are many commercial farms. Other areas, such as Santa Cruz County,

where there are large numbers of backyard flocks, are considered low

risk by our state avian specialists.

 

One of the vets told me that it is literally impossible to keep a

commercial poultry farm biosecure. They can only reduce the risk.

One of the most biosecure facilities in California had a disease

outbreak, and it discouraged many other people who ran commercial

poultry operations, because they thought, well, if they can have a

disease outbreak, what about me who is doing less? Viruses can be

carried inside the facility even in the nostrils or ear cannals of

workers. These birds are also kept in such terrible conditions and

are so packed together, that it really doesn't take much for a

disease to take hold and for a virus to be able to mutate rapidly.

They say it literally takes hold like wildfire.

 

Further, there are many pathogens that are more of a problem when

the dose to the host is very high. For example, one of the hens that

I had that was rescued from an egg farm passed away, and I sent her

to the lab for a necropsy. It appears that she died of a newly

discovered form of avian hepatitis (not transmissable to humans)

that about a third of the world's population of chickens have been

exposed to, but few ever get. After reading some research papers

about it and contacting a researcher studying it, I found out that

there is a much higher incidence of a chicken contracting the

disease if the feces-to-mouth ratio is high. These birds were

covered in feces.

 

One of the state vets told me that in China, they actually have

workers sleep on hammocks in the facility with the chickens! In

addition, China discovered this virus many years ago and told no

one, and gave it time to grow stronger.

 

Another issue that hardly ever is mentioned is that this virus is

circulating in poor countries where people might eat poultry even if

it is sick or dead, because they need the food.

 

Here are some articles with Dr Gregor:

 

Coming Home to Roost: Bird Flu, a Virus of Our Own Hatching

http://tinyurl.com/doqw8

 

Bird Flu Coming Home to Roost

The Satya Interview with Michael Greger

http://www.satyamag.com/feb06/greger.html

 

There is plenty of evidence that inhumane farming practices cause

pathogens to grow stronger. They should ban the practices that

encourage these pathogens, not penalize the people affected by them.

I also think it's suspicious that they don't ban cats, which have

plenty of close contact with humans and are known to contract bird

flu by eating infected wild birds.

 

Cheryl

[Guest guest]

Avian influenza is a controversial topic as are many diseases. It has a

complex pathogenesis including many different viruses in different species.

There are plenty of differing opinions out there which may or may not be the

most informed.

 

The risk of avian influenza infection in commercial farms is lower than in

smaller backyard operations because of enhanced housing and biosecurity.

Commercial operations are electrically lit and ventilated and completely

enclosed, so poultry have no contact with migratory birds. Also, if it does

somehow manage to enter, it is contained by physical barriers.

 

Smaller outdoor flocks have a higher risk of infection because the flocks

could mingle with wild migrating birds carrying the virus and then pass it

onto other species (humans, cats, pigs, etc.) The prevalence of this

practice in SE Asia is one of the main reasons why new outbreaks of avian

flu start there and not other parts of the world (see outbreaks of 1918,

1957, 1968...)

 

Migratory birds are reservoirs (asymptomatic carriers of the disease) that

may move it across the world, but would you want a mass culling of all these

birds because they spread the virus? I would hope not. Therefore, why

would we want to kill all cats? Cats are not the primary host so

controlling them would not control the disease outbreak.

[Guest guest]

I'm not for culling any animals due to bird flu, unless they already

have it. Nor am I for killing wild birds, even if they do have it.

Banning all backyard poultry in the country does not remove the

virus from the country, or the potential for infection. Bird flu

virus can be in wild birds, cats, other types of pet birds, and it

can enter so-called " biosecure " facilities. If it does get into a

commercial facility, it has the potential to infect huge numbers of

birds all at once.

 

There are many ways that viruses are spread. It can even be carried

by a thick fog. When exotic newcastle's infected southern

California, the areas most affected were those with large

concentrations of poultry, where bird houses were next to each

other. Those people with more isolated facilities were less at risk.

If there is an infection in a small flock that is isolated from

other flocks, there is much less potential for that infection to

spread. That is why they are doing heavy surveillance in counties

with large numbers of poultry, and they really aren't that concerned

with areas that have large numbers of backyard flocks. These flocks

are often more physically isolated.

 

The entire world uses multi-species farming practices. Small farms

often house multiple types of farm animals in one barn. In fact, one

of my favorite chicken books shows a picture of pig who lives with

the chickens. Think of a family farm with a few farm animals, ala

Babe, and you've got a good picture of how a lot of farms in this

country keep farm animals. There are also new multi-species pastured

systems in use in this country. There are other factors besides

keeping multiple species together that create these viruses. I've

heard the opinion expressed that China could have stopped the spread

of this virus a long time ago before it became a strong virus and a

big problem, and they didn't. There are AI outbreaks in this

country, too, but they are quick to control them. In addition, even

if you are a poor farmer, people in this country don't tend to eat a

sick or dead bird, but in countries with more poverty, they might.

Someone recently told me about a trip to China where a small wild

bird ran into a window of the bus they were travelling on. People

ran off the bus so they could get to the bird first and eat it for

dinner! A wild bird can have bird flu, too, you know.

 

Europe has published guidelines for people who have backyard poultry

flocks so they can build housing that keeps out wild birds. They are

already selling chicken runs that meet these guidelines. Many months

ago, I spoke with several of our state poultry vets, and the person

who is constructing our bird flu plan for California, and I asked

them, what can I do to prevent my chicken and ducks from being

killed by the government if bird flu comes here? I spent hours

speaking with them and they told me exactly what I needed to do to

implement biosecurity for my own flock. I also sponsored a talk in

my community to tell people how to implement biosecurity for their

flocks, and my new chicken run is under construction right now. If

you can demonstrate that you have implemented biosecurity, in

California, if there is a disease outbreak in your area, they will

most likely test your flock before killing it. But only California

and a few Eastern states have the ability to test large number of

birds for bird flu. The others do not.

 

There are several things that concern me about our response to bird

flu. First, they are not doing a good job of educating the public.

For people with backyard flocks, it could take a considerable amount

of time and money to construct a covered run. Further, the state has

not put together plans that people could use to create these runs in

a cost-effective manner. They also aren't widely distributing

literature about biosecurity so people can start implementing it. A

man at my local feedstore has had chickens for years, and has some

flocks whose members are 15+ years old. He has implemented

biosecurity for their whole lives. How did he find out about it? A

state rep travelled to the feedstore and gave a presentation, and

left literature for everyone who came in the store. Why on earth

aren't they doing that now? I have been researching chicken run

designs since October, and only now do I have a viable one that is

being built. Senator Maldonado contacted the state dept of

agriculture on my behalf, and they said their policy was that if the

bird flu arrived here, they would tell people what to do then. At

that point, it is largely too late. People need to build their

biosecure housing now. The bird flu has just spread to Africa and

the Middle East, and the Iowa futures market has given it a 50-50

chance of being in the US this year.

 

Chickens have been evolving as our companions since about 3200 BC.

There is a tremendous variety of breeds, and many, many endangered

breeds that are almost extinct. Everytime they go into a country and

kill off all the poultry, they are hurting the genetic diversity of

poultry and perhaps wiping out entire breeds that have been around

for centuries. They are leaving us with the " mutant " breeds that

they keep in commercial farms, that would have a hard time making it

on a normal family farm. People get upset at the prospect of killing

off a large number of cats, but they barely think at all about what

it means to kill off an entire country's poultry population. Is

someone's pet chicken less important than someone's pet cat?

 

If bird flu comes to this country, I will not get rid of my backyard

poultry. By then, they will be in bird-proof covered runs and my

cats will be inside. But, I probably will feel a little uneasy when

I'm outside gardening with the wild birds who are pooping

everywhere. Let's face it, at this point, they are just trying to

slow its spread enough that they can develop a vaccine in time. And

third-world countries, who probably won't have as much access to the

vaccine, will be screwed. Again. Hopefully, it won't develop into a

strain that can pass readily from person-to-person.

 

Cheryl