Bird Flu

[andrewo]

Well it was only a matter of time before it hit the UK, get ready for media hyperbole and damage:
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/News...ITAIN-AREA.xml

[smallblueplanet]

Have to say I'm appalled by these stats.

"It said it had ordered poultry farmers within this area to keep their flocks indoors. There are 175 poultry centres in the zone and some 3.1 million birds, of which 260,000 are free range, it said."

I thought all chickens had to be free range in the UK soon?

[nick the grief]

No I don't think so SBP. the problem is the stocking rates. What you and me call free range the commercial people will get loads more in. & a lot of the commercial houses are capable of feeders being put in there. so who knows what 's going to happen.

I did think it was ironic this morning when they were saying that this dead swam was spotted about a week ago - what were the locals doing ? did they not think, we ought to report this? I thought the exclusion zone was 3km radious with a sedond zone around this (not sure if the distance). I suoouse there is no way of knowing where exaclty this bird died, has it come from Norway on the tide or was it more local?

This will be yet one more excuse for frenzy & panic.

[Jaxom]

According to this evenings news on "Channel Four" the swan was not a migratory bird but a local bird that many people knew and saw on a regular basis. The next question has to be where it caught the virus?
Jax

[sewer rat]

The swan was reported by locals as soon as it was spotted lying dead on the harbour slipway. Officialdom set in and it was not even collected until the following day, and it was a further five days for the results of the tests to be announced confirming that the swan was infected with the highly pathogenic strain of avian flu.
Anyway, in the same way that one swallow don't make a summer, one dead swan don't make no epidemic - stay chilled everybody - look at it this way - if you wanna get into chooks, I predict a fall in the prices in the near future - give the tabloids a day or two and they'll be giving them away.

[nick the grief]

You obviously have local knowledge Rat, that wasn't on the report I heard this morning.

[sewer rat]

Cellardyke is a good bit further south than me, so no local knowledge - just from scottish news reports during the day and this evening. Opposition MSP's are already using the time delay for ammo against the powers that be.

[nick the grief]

This mornings news said that "locals had seen it washing in & out for some days... etc" implying that nohing had been said. Yes I know where you are in respect to cellardyke, but your nearer then me so your local

[Birdie Wife]

Apparently it was well decomposed (sorry, I know it's lunch time an' all... ) so it must have been dead for a while before it was reported. It's not that clear whether the locals reported it as soon as it was spotted or a few days after.

[Shortie]

On the subject of media hyperbole, I did think it a classic media ploy when this morning on one of our london free papers, all the front cover contained were the words; DON'T PANIC and a huge picture of (presumably) the bird flu microbe coloured in blue on a black background.

Glad to see they really mean what they print....

Anyway I'll step off my soapbax now and continue my working day

[andrewo]

It's not the same as 1918, as that spread much faster. See:
http://virus.stanford.edu/uda/
However, I do feel that the media shouldn't be allowed in to a quarantine zone as they will spread it, they did the same during foot and mouth, it was disgusting how they felt they were above the law and didn't follow the hygiene protocols on a lot of farms and paths.

Chicken prices will plummet. The government have created a spin machine which will destroy them and take alot of good chuck farmers with them. We wouldn't have this problem with our meat etc, if we produced are own produce in this country, promoted organic and local farming and fired the labour, conservative and liberal party into space.

[Cab]

Hope you'll allow me to post this; its a sort of FAQ we've compiled on the subject of bird flu:

http://www.downsizer.net/Projects/Ra...rd_Flu_Basics/

[dragonz]

got this from another forum I go on

"The inside story for those who did not know why this "epidemic" was recieving so much attention:-

The leading drug "against" bird flu is Tamiflu.

Tamiflu was developed by Gilead: http://www.gilead.com/wt/sec/tamiflu

Now see who used to head them up: http://www.gilead.com/wt/sec/pr_933190157

"Gilead is fortunate to have had Don Rumsfeld as a stalwart board member since the company's earliest days, and we are very pleased that he has accepted the Chairmanship"

Nice, huh..... I wonder how many billions Bumsfelt has made off this hyped up "danger"....."

[andrewo]

Oh my, Gilead? Anyone read Margaret Atwood's 'Handmaids Tale'? It's coming frighteningly true...

[dragonz]

not read it, anything like 1984?