The Basics
In Government
Avian Flu
Could avian flu lead to another human influenza pandemic – or global epidemic? Learn the facts.
Latest News on Avian FluOn July 17, 2007, USDA laboratory tests confirmed a strain of low-risk bird flu at a turkey farm in Virginia. The good news is that there is no evidence of it spreading. Learn more about avian flu in our backgrounder. |
Judging by the typical reactions of governments and health
organizations around the world, one would think that the bird flu
crisis has been caused primarily by small flocks of chickens kept in
the backyards of families in developing nations.
Backyard
and rooftop poultry farms have been restricted or outright banned in at
least 15 countries. The prime minister of Egypt announced, “The time
has come to get rid of the idea of breeding chickens on the roofs of
houses.” And a high-ranking official with the United Nations’ Food and
Agricultural Organization (FAO) declared, “The fight against bird flu
must be waged in the backyard of the world’s poor.”
Backyard
flocks throughout Asia, and increasingly in Africa and the Middle East,
are being “culled” – destroyed – at a dramatic rate, and in many cases
their owners are being inadequately compensated or not at all.
These
swift measures are not justified by the facts. The reality of the
crisis is that just as much, or perhaps more, is unknown about the
spread of Type A avian influenza than what is known.
Read more
- Read our backgrounder.
- Read our letter to ABC about their movie "Fatal Contact: Bird Flu in America"
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