Avian flu found in parrot in UK

[ShadesWolf]

A parrot that died in quarantine in the UK has tested positive for avian flu, the government has said.
The Department for the Environment, Fisheries and Food (Defra) has not said if it is the lethal strain H5N1.

It is the first case of avian flu in Britain - it has been found in Romania, Turkey and Greece after apparently being carried from Asia by wild birds.

Scientists say the disease does not appear able to spread between humans, but there are fears it could mutate.

So it begins

[The_Doctor]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4365956.stm

Well it was going to happen sooner or later.

At lest it was a parrot, so I can post this:
http://www.davidpbrown.co.uk/jokes/m...on-parrot.html

[The_Doctor]

I just posted a thread like this, only it was funnier.

Ok, that one was closed for obvious reasons.

So here is link to lighten the mood:
http://www.davidpbrown.co.uk/jokes/m...on-parrot.html

If you need your mood lightening any more watch Have I Got News For You at 9:30.

[solypsist]

nm.

[lancelot]

Oh great- bird flu...

At least the parrot was in quarantine.

[ShadesWolf]

Oh great- bird flu...

At least the parrot was in quarantine.

Yes lucky thing we have quarantine

[Redleg]

Do you have mesquito's in the UK?

Isn't this another one that is transmitted by mesquito's? Kind of like the West Nile.

[Adrian II]

Do you have mesquito's in the UK?

Isn't this another one that is transmitted by mesquito's? Kind of like the West Nile.

Nah, birds and humans get the disease through contact with live infected birds, for instance by eating them. The infected birds also excrete the virus, which can be inhaled after the faeces has dried and pulverised.

[Redleg]

Nah, birds and humans get the disease through contact with live infected birds, for instance by eating them. The infected birds also excrete the virus, which can be inhaled after the faeces has dried and pulverised.

Well that is at least better then the damn Mesquito infestation around Dallas that is carrying the West Nile Virus.

Oh well another disease that has might or might mutate to become deadly to Humans. Makes you wonder how crowded the planet is becoming when diseases begin to mutate in alarming rates.

[The_Doctor]

We're screwed, aren't we.

In other news Have I Got News For You was very funny.

[Adrian II]

Well that is at least better then the damn Mesquito infestation around Dallas that is carrying the West Nile Virus.

Oh well another disease that has might or might mutate to become deadly to Humans. Makes you wonder how crowded the planet is becoming when diseases begin to mutate in alarming rates.

You never know of course, but for now I think this virus is overrated and the main victrim will be the poultry industry. Which, by the way, might be considered just as responsible as overpopulation. The industrial mass production of bird meat is not exactly conducive to public health, it seems.

[yesdachi]

Nah, birds and humans get the disease through contact with live infected birds, for instance by eating them. The infected birds also excrete the virus, which can be inhaled after the faeces has dried and pulverised.

Well, at least it wont be easy to contract. Sheese.

[Redleg]

You never know of course, but for now I think this virus is overrated and the main victrim will be the poultry industry. Which, by the way, might be considered just as responsible as overpopulation. The industrial mass production of bird meat is not exactly conducive to public health, it seems.

Opps forgot to add just got to add another -------

One to the many reasons I steer away from eating to many of the dirty nasty crap eating cannibal birds that are chickens.

[Soulforged]

Oh, oh, it's getting closer.

[Tribesman]

The industrial mass production of bird meat is not exactly conducive to public health, it seems.

Though most of the areas where it has struck are not really noted for large scale battery production of poultry are they Adrian ?
And the current advice being given is to round up and house free-range poultry to prevent their possible contact with wild birds .
What is of concern is that the parrot concerned is from S. America , if it does turn out to be the same H5 strain that originated in S.E. Asia then the predictions of it spreading Westward are either very wrong or incredibly advanced .
What is even more alarming is that Britain is still importing birds from S.E. Asia .
What could be so vital an interest to the UKs economy that it feels the need to continue importing birds from an infected area (albeit with quarantine restrictions) at a time when the government is in a panic about a possible outbreak ?

[Adrian II]

Though most of the areas where it has struck are not really noted for large scale battery production of poultry are they Adrian?

True, as far as you and I know. My remark was of a general nature. The poultry industry limits biodiversity; uses pesticides, hormones and synthetic ingredients, etcetera -- like I said, none of these methods are conducive to public health. By the way, the present avian flu epidemic is generally thought to have originated in China, which has a rapidly developing bioindustry. So the country of origin is not exactly a primitive or rural enclave.

Anyway, there seems to be a growing controversy among scientists * over the virus' preferred method of transport as well. Williams & Moores and others across the world maintain that migratory birds are unjustly blamed for spreading the virus and that the true culprits are humans transporting poultry and bringing healthy birds into contact with infected ones.

Which is where your parrot may come in as a prime exhibit. Awaiting your next brilliant pr move I remain as always, Mr President, sincerely yours.


* http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20050922...s_050922040324

[Tribesman]

Awaiting your next brilliant pr move I remain as always, Mr President, sincerely yours.

Hey don't ask me , I gave up on the poultry a whileback , too much work for too little meat , though I do miss the duck eggs .

[bmolsson]

This can end in a disaster if not handled properly. Still though I think that the largest scare is in Asia, the western governments are fairly well organized to handle this kind of stuff.....

[Soulforged]

This can end in a disaster if not handled properly. Still though I think that the largest scare is in Asia, the western governments are fairly well organized to handle this kind of stuff.....

Well there are some exceptions you know...

[ScionTheWorm]

doubt it

[Viking]

Now the birdflu might have reached Sweden too! Its time to close the borders.

[Slyspy]

Is it really an issue? All I see is the media trying to whip up a storm about nothing. It MAY mutate. It MAY not. In the whole of Asia it killed 60 people who were all involved with poultry (and not just eating it). In South-Eastern Europe they have already started slaughtering birds, the exact same mistake that we Brits made with CJD. If it is so easily spread by migrating birds then you cannot stop the spread of the disease, thereby rendering pre-emptive culling futile and wasteful. Neither is it a direct threat to human health, at least on the scale suggested by the media, and it may never be.

[Xiahou]

It's a scary time to be a parrot.

Is it really an issue? All I see is the media trying to whip up a storm about nothing. It MAY mutate. It MAY not. In the whole of Asia it killed 60 people who were all involved with poultry (and not just eating it). In South-Eastern Europe they have already started slaughtering birds, the exact same mistake that we Brits made with CJD. If it is so easily spread by migrating birds then you cannot stop the spread of the disease, thereby rendering pre-emptive culling futile and wasteful. Neither is it a direct threat to human health, at least on the scale suggested by the media, and it may never be.

Yes, I agree. This story is a shameless scare-tactic put forth by the news media to drum up ratings. Right now, you have a better chance of being killed by lightning.

Some common sense precautions are certainly in order, but the way the media is trying to trump this up into some kind of doomsday scenario is pathetic.

[Viking]

Is it really an issue? All I see is the media trying to whip up a storm about nothing. It MAY mutate. It MAY not. In the whole of Asia it killed 60 people who were all involved with poultry (and not just eating it). In South-Eastern Europe they have already started slaughtering birds, the exact same mistake that we Brits made with CJD. If it is so easily spread by migrating birds then you cannot stop the spread of the disease, thereby rendering pre-emptive culling futile and wasteful. Neither is it a direct threat to human health, at least on the scale suggested by the media, and it may never be.

Some scientists say it WILL mutate while others say it may. The more the virus spread, the greater chances that it will mutate. Kill of the birds in the food industry and migrating birds have lesser chances of getting infected. They mostly know what they`re doing.

[Slyspy]

Yes, that is what we assumed of government scientists during both the CJD (which is a close parallel of this "outbreak") and the foot and mouth outbreak. The latter was truely a lesson in how to over-react, mismanage a crisis and cripple an industry. After that I would no more trust the government to competently handle such things than I would a child.

[Papewaio]

Is it really an issue? All I see is the media trying to whip up a storm about nothing. It MAY mutate. It MAY not. In the whole of Asia it killed 60 people who were all involved with poultry (and not just eating it). In South-Eastern Europe they have already started slaughtering birds, the exact same mistake that we Brits made with CJD. If it is so easily spread by migrating birds then you cannot stop the spread of the disease, thereby rendering pre-emptive culling futile and wasteful. Neither is it a direct threat to human health, at least on the scale suggested by the media, and it may never be.

60 dead. True so it is not that bad a virus compared with many others.

CJD and livestock slaughtering. Considering the idiots where feeding ground up livestock to a herbivore it serves them right. The only ethical thing left to stop the spread of mad cow disease was to cull the population and reinstate sensible and healthy practices. British farmers were greedy and done the wrong thing orginally and in the end did the right thing.

Also it is standard to kill diseased stock.

[Divinus Arma]

Avian Flu?


Doesn't this break the forum rules on fowl language?

[Marcellus]

UK parrot 'had deadly bird flu'

Birds across Europe are being kept indoors as a precaution
A parrot that died from bird flu in UK quarantine did have the H5N1 strain that has killed at least 60 people in Asia, tests have confirmed.

The bird came from Surinam in South America - a region free from bird flu.

The UK's chief vet, Debby Reynolds, said the parrot probably contracted the virus from other birds in quarantine - perhaps a group from Taiwan.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4370106.stm

Hmm, not the best news. But it's only one isolated case, at the moment. I doubt it will be long before the disease comes in a larger way, however.

Edit:

Avian Flu?


Doesn't this break the forum rules on fowl language?

Groan...

[Divinus Arma]

Which came first: The chicken or the dead?

[Papewaio]

Just repeat after me.

There is no such thing as evolution.
There is no such thing as evolution.
There is no such thing as evolution.

We are not afraid of a new variant of the Avian Flu forming that is transmitted human to human.