Guest guest Posted March 22, 2006 Report Share Posted March 22, 2006 It points out that vaccination could save the lives of backyard and free-range flocks, and the US reluctance to use vaccines on any but commercial indoor flocks. http://www.thegoosesmother.com/id79.html I can't comment on the accuracy of the info in the article, but put it out for your consideration. I do believe that the US silence about what people need to do to protect companion birds is very disturbing. The government has already banned backyard domestic birds in Hong Kong and Vietnam, and all that's left are factory farms. I suspect they'll want to do that here, and besides all the suffering that causes, breeds that have been with us for centuries could go extinct. And here are some gems: --- Start planning for bird flu, U.S. warns cities, business " Communities and businesses should prepare their own plans in case of an avian flu pandemic without counting on a last-minute rescue from Washington, Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt warned Monday. " http://tinyurl.com/od4bg How many of your communities or animal shelters have bird flu plans? (I'm betting none. Mine doesn't.) -- Does bird flu cloud have silver lining for Vietnam's poultry sector? http://news./s/afp/20060312/hl_afp/healthfluvietnampoultry -- Fowl play: The poultry industry's central role in the bird flu crisis http://www.grain.org/briefings/?id=194 -- Why is Europe so neurotic about bird flu? " In some countries, sales of poultry have hit the floor. Panicky pet- owners have dumped their dog or cat, fearing that felines and canines can somehow pass on an avian virus. " http://news./s/afp/20060321/hl_afp/healthflueurope= Cheryl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 22, 2006 Report Share Posted March 22, 2006 >It points out that vaccination could save the lives of backyard and >free-range flocks, and the US reluctance to use vaccines on any but >commercial indoor flocks. Actually, there is some speculation that this vaccine may not be completely effective, because the current avian influenza (H5N1) has diverged into 2 clades, only one of which the current vaccine is for. It may provide partial protection for the other circulating clade, or it may not. This is a highly evolving virus and this vaccine may not protect for the virus that may arrive in the U.S. One reason the government may not be " acting " on this as you wish they would is that everything is not known and research is still being conducted on how this virus is mutating and moving and what is the best way to properly combat it without causing the most disturbance to farmers and the natural environment. If you are interested in the latest scientific findings on avian flu from researcher (and not second hand news reports), I suggest you to ProMed (a listserv on emerging diseases). http://www.promedmail.org/pls/promed/f?p=2400:1000 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 22, 2006 Report Share Posted March 22, 2006 Actually, the reason some countries decided not to vaccinate is that they were worried that it would help the virus mutate into a more virulent form for humans. However, since many countries are already vaccinating, I think they basically made the decision for us. I'm aware that they are concerned that the vaccines won't work completely (this was just published recently on news): Bird Flu Undergoing Genetic Change http://tinyurl.com/jk2k7 Even if it will provide partial protection, that certainly would be OK with me and my birds... Also, they'll come up with a new vaccine, and they need a plan to produce, distribute, and use it. In France, they're apparently vaccinating on waterfowl migration routes. We're on the Pacific flyway. What bothers me, however, is the lack of education. Our government is doing a *terrible* job of letting people with companion birds, small backyard flocks, and free-range operations know how to implement biosecurity so their birds won't be killed. About 20 years ago, the state vets travelled throughout California and gave presentations at feedstores and left literature about how people with domestic birds can implement biosecurity for their flocks. It is not a new concept, but one that people rarely know about. If you look at those notes, they are planning to kill birds who are infected and they do not mention education. I have called them and spoke to them about it, and they either say " good idea " (and I still don't see any change) or they don't respond at all. This is a tremendous opportunity for the commercial poultry industry to take over the market from small free- range producers and eliminate backyard companion birds. And if you think your indoor birds are safe, even if they are exotic birds, you should know that during the exotic newcastle outbreak, they killed indoor birds as well, depending on where they were located in relation to an outbreak. So your neighbors need to implement biosecurity, too, because you don't want to be right next to an outbreak if you have birds. Bird flu could be here at any time, and while I am not personally concerned about it (the transmission rate to humans is extremely low -- you should be more concerned about antibiotic-resistent staph at local hospitals), I don't want my birds to be killed. I'm implemention biosecurity. I also don't want my neighbors to be concerned because they weren't properly educated. My birds are no threat to them whatsoever. Further, where is the education at animal control? Bird flu test kits have been available for a very long time, and yet they aren't recommending that animal control use them. It's only by request. An infected animal could go to animal control, infect others, and spread it throughout the area. They haven't given recommendations for quarantine, obtained test kits for cats and dogs (even though they're available, at least for cats), or planned for a huge influx of animals as has happened in Europe. There's no excuse, really, as you can easily find out how people are reacting in Europe, and they are considered more " up on current events " than our general population is. While the virus does have a high death rate in birds, and people would most likely know that their bird is infected, there are always survivors, even if a small number, and they would become carriers. Will people release their birds rather than let the government kill them, as they've done in some countries? Last fall, the state poultry vet told me that H5N1 is highly mutable, so it could be low path in one flock, and then when it infects a neighboring nieve flock, it could become high path. Whether they still believe that now or bird flu, I don't know. There is a lot we don't know, but we do know about biosecurity, and they should be educating bird keepers, and cat and dog keepers, now! They should be guiding animal shelters about what they're supposed to do, too. There was some article about a high survival rate if the bird ate kimchi, like raw sauerkraut, which caused the sales of that product to skyrocket (they think it's the lactobaccilus [also in yogurt], I guess.) http://www.germanfoods.org/trade/sauerkrautbenefits.cfm And some people think Concord grape juice helps. I haven't looked that up. Here are some UK biosecurity guidelines that I think are quite good, and some of the US guidelines: UK Biosecurity/Bird Flu Prevention Info http://tinyurl.com/csan8 http://tinyurl.com/g22mq USDA and UC Davis Biosecurity Info: http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/vetext/INF-PO_Biosecurity.html http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/birdbiosecurity/hpai.html Cheryl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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