SCI/TECH: Bird Flu Strain Found in Colombia

A strain of bird flu was found in a flock of chickens in the South American country of Colombia on Monday. However, officials say that the strain is not the Asian H5N1 virus that poses a threat to humans and is causing fears of a possible pandemic. The chickens have been quarantined to prevent the disease from spreading.



I think this is a very interesting development. I think it's strange that all of a sudden a new bird flu would pop up in South America when all this talk is going on about the H5N1 virus. I think there's some more to this story.

[edit on 10/11/2005 by djohnsto77]

It's really not all that strange. There are avian flus going around in bird populations all the time. It's just that few of them have the potential to harm us. And, for that matter, few of them carry the same high morbidity that H5N1 does.

So, this really isn't news at all. This is scaremongering on the part of the reporter. If we reported EVERY case of ANY kind of bird flu, you'd never read about anything else.

As an aside, this is something that is near and dear to my heart. Both my sister and my father are in fields that require that they deal directly with large bird populations on a daily basis. I hope that their frequent exposures to other forms of bird flus will offer some nominal protection against H5N1 if it hits.

The article does say this was the first time the virus was ever detected in Colombia, so I don't think this is an everyday occurance, at least for that part of the world.

Originally posted by djohnsto77
The article does say this was the first time the virus was ever detected in Colombia, so I don't think this is an everyday occurance, at least for that part of the world.

I think we will find this is going to be a first world wide before this is all over.

I even saw a funny add and wish I could remember which network, but reportedly they did in Big Bird from sesame street to stop the spread of the disease.




[edit on 10/11/2005 by shots]

Originally posted by djohnsto77
The article does say this was the first time the virus was ever detected in Colombia, so I don't think this is an everyday occurrence, at least for that part of the world.

Which is complete rubbish. It's like this, friend, every time you get the flu, does the local news come to your house and report on it? If so, you live in a VERY small town. The answer, of course, is no.

It's the same here. Poultry flocks are HIGHLY susceptible to avian flu. It's not really news when some chickens in a farm get a runny beak and watery eyes. The problem is, H5N1 is HIGHLY pathogenic, and has and EXTREMELY high morbidity. That means it spreads faster and KILLS many birds.

So, naturally people notice. Couple that with the pandemic scare we are all under, and any case of normal bird flu will be sure to trigger this kind of media attention, even though it is unwarranted.

As a final thought on why it is highly unlikely that this is Colombia's first avian flu, it was recently discovered that the pandemic of 1918 was caused by a bird flu. Did Colombia get missed by it entirely? No chance. This is sloppy reporting by an AP correspondent that doesn't know the first thing about avian flus and how common they are in the poultry industry. Also, it is clear that nobody else at AP has a clue either, so news agencies around the world keep running with these pseudo-facts.

It happens, and it's not really worth a major argument. I just wanted to educate a few folks here. Hope I helped.