Bird Flu Outbreaks
The first cases of the bird flu were registered in private yards. How is one supposed to take 15-20 chickens from an old lady and send them for processing? There is no such technology, no schemes on how to act yet. Besides, the virus can spread during transporting. It is easier and safer to destroy all the entire livestock of infected birds. Such practice is used in case of any dangerous infection. For example, when there was a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in England, several million cattle were destroyed, even though after proper treatment the foot-and-mouth disease virus dies and the meat can be eaten.
The bird flu outbreaks among people were registered in South East Asia: in Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, and China. Most likely, they caught infection via direct contact with infected poultry and not because they ate its meat. A 35-year-old man from Vietnam recently died of bird flu. Even though he ate chicken meat with 9 members of his family the day before, he was the only one to become infected. He is known to have lived 200 meters away from a poultry market. Since 2003, a total of 92 people in Vietnam have fallen ill, 42 of whom—with lethal outcome. A girl, who caught a bird flu infection through direct contact with chickens, died on November 5, 2005 in Indonesia. The total number of the bird flu victims in Indonesia is 10 people.
According to some data collected by the WHO, as of 11.09.05, the total number of confirmed bird flu cases among humans was 125, including 64 cases with lethal outcomes. No bird flu cases among humans have been registered in Russia.
