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MEAT AND POULTRY, MEDICAL, INTERNATIONAL
TRADE AND RISK ASSESSMENT
* "United Nations Predicts Bird Flu in
the Americas within a Year;
Influenza coordinator Nabarro urges high
alert for veterinary services
worldwide" is the title of a March 9 US
Department of State News Release
which states in part that " ... Bird flu
is expected to cross the Atlantic
Ocean and reach the Americas within a
year, a senior U.N. official said
March 8....
What do we know NOW…
- -the most susceptible non-avian vector is swine as in
any other flu virus, but other mammals are not excluded by any physiology.
i.e. pigs are the easiest infected but other mammals (like humans and rabbits)
can become infected with enough prolonged exposure.
- -flue vaccine production is on the rise, and Avian Flu
research is active BUT it's still all made overseas and the US has only a
limited amount of control over costs and supply methods
- -All known cases to date have arisen from handling dead
animals or having closer contact with live and dead animals than most
Americans experience. Hint: don't sleep with chickens in your bed or on your
dining table and don't let your children play with butchered chicken heads.
Treat ALL butchering activities as if animals are infected with something
that you could catch!
- -Currently the death rate of those contracting the virus
is about 50/50, however, these have all been in locations with very limited
access to 'modern' medicine. Most in these areas who have been admitted to
hospital, were already well past the initial diagnosis phase when anti-virals
would be effective.
- -The virus won't be a serious health threat to humans
UNTIL it mutates into a form that can be passed from Human TO Human. It
currently has NOT made this mutation. Of course, we don't know how long that
would take.
- -Soap and water are still 100% effective in killing the
virus. WASH YOUR HANDS after ALL animal contact. There are plenty more current
disease threats around that are contracted by handling animals.
Should we be alert and watchful and remain educated?
ABSOLUTELY. Do we need to stash food under the beds? Probably not. But there are
plenty of other reasons for emergency preparedness. What would you do if:
- Your barn caught fire over in the hay corner?
- You suddenly heard the tornado alarm sound and your barn
was open?
- You saw a pack of dangerous dogs attacking a cat 15 feet
from your open barn?
- A man in uniform arrives at your door telling you he had
a 'warrant' to confiscate all your rabbits?
- Some idiot ARA comes into your barn and 'liberate' all
of your rabbits and they are now running around your yard and the
neighborhood?
- The earthen dam down the road just broke and the water
in your yard is now 18 inches and rising 1 inch every 10 minutes?
- You find that you do have the flu and you will be in
hospital for about 10 days and unable to care for your rabbits.
- The nuclear power plant just issued an alarm and you are
ordered to evacuate in 45 minutes.
- Newcastle disease has been detected in 2 chicken houses
in your town and all small livestock are considered at risk.
These are all REAL situations that have happened within 20
miles of my home (not to me) in the past 5 years (except the nuclear plant
problem which was in 1979). I'm not asking for real answers to each scenario,
but how can you prepare for any of these situations?
Avian Flu will be an influence on our activities, our
finances and our home lives in the future. We do have time to educate ourselves
and prepare. But this is not the only risk that faces us today. Dangerous
situations happen to everyone in every location at some time. Preparedness is
key to turning a dangerous situation into a manageable one. Important executive
people call this ‘Risk Management’. The rest of us call it being ready for
anything. So far this year, in the US, we have seen wildfires, floods,
hurricanes, tornadoes and Animal Rightist attacks. These are all potential
tragedies that we can prepare to mitigate.
If you want more information about what you can do to
prepare your own animals and those of other people, please look into the SART/CART
programs. If your community doesn't have an active team, find your local Ag
Extension Agent and ask WHY NOT! The barn you save may be your own.
http://www.pasart.org/
Elaine Harvey, Crystal Creek Rabbitry
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