Japan to Slaughter 410,000 Chickens for Bird Flu

Supposedly, only 5 chickens are dead and it's not confirmed to be the virulent strain of H5N1 - BUT - almost half a million chickens will be destroyed, AND 170 ground troops are being sent into the area to help local authorities "contain the spread."

Miyazaki agricultural official Masuhiro Nozaki says five dead birds on the farm were confirmed infected with the H5 strain of bird flu late Sunday. Nozaki said more tests were under way to determine whether it was the virulent H5N1 subtype.

Nozaki said Monday that Japan will send some 170 ground troops to Miyazaki to help local authorities contain the spread of bird flu. Cars driving in and out of the area were being disinfected and the movement of chickens and eggs from farms in the area was banned.

Serious overkill if it's not a real problem...

Best of luck to Nippon.

reply to post by soficrow


You say Bird Flu is back but did it realy go in the first place?

all these H N viruses that are around i personaly think that the have been produced in labs for industry control. I.e. if you are a major exporter of lets say beef cattle and another player comes into the market that can under cut your prices. would you not do everything in your power to try and stop them from doing it.

Good thread and thanks for the info
Peace

Two humans die from *dangerous flu* let's slaughter an entire city!

Then again if chickens weren't housed in such poor conditions maybe this amount of birds wouldn't need to die.

i wonder what will happen to the chicken farmers who have done no wrong, will they be compensated or will they just have to start eating as much chicken as they can like a squirrell stocking up for winter

reply to post by Nox789

You say Bird Flu is back but did it realy go in the first place?

No - and that's a huge part of the problem. H5N1 is endemic in Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt and a few other places. (Endemic means now part of the ecosystem - entrenched in animals, soil, water, everything.)

Different low-path clades of H5N1 seem to be endemic in North America - not as virulent as the Asian strains, supposedly.

all these H N viruses that are around i personaly think that the have been produced in labs for industry control.

The "H" and "N" just describe certain measurements common in all flus.

Most likely, several distinct things are causing these weird new strains:

1. Flu always mutates, evolves and finds new hosts.

2. Industrial agriculture - hog and chicken barns, and cattle feedlots where the animals are shoved together like sardines by the 10's of thousands - are like petri dishes for new diseases - disease hothouses for new strains.

3. Industrial espionage and sabotage - you're right, industry competition is more likely to lead to agricultural bio-weapons than anything else.

I.e. if you are a major exporter of lets say beef cattle and another player comes into the market that can under cut your prices. would you not do everything in your power to try and stop them from doing it.

4. Natural mutation and evolution rapidly accelerated by factors 2 & 3.

Good thread and thanks for the info
Peace

Thanks. Good contribution. And peace to you too.

Wow, that makes a lot of sense!....JOKING! i can't believe that will solve the "bird flu". I mean they could just be naturally sick... Right? I mean only 5 birds tested? That's like the guy who said rats don't exist on any other planets than ours because he tested 500 planets... I think they should take the time and do a thorough investigation and come up with a better solution.

By the way im a noob that's why it's all in red!

reply to post by Disemboweled


Having flu IS being "naturally sick."

...My point here is that officials are saying they don't really know, but acting in crisis mode - which strongly suggests there's a MAJOR problem no one is willing to talk about. Actually, it's a dead giveaway.