For the moment the UK’s avian ‘flu “panic pandemic” of late October has subsided. No more quarantine
parrot casualties have fuelled the media frenzy on just how many million of us are destined to die from a
disease which has yet to mutate to present a human pandemic threat. And still the numbers game continues with the World Bank assessing a global economic bill from an avian ‘flu pandemic of over £450 billion. The bank is to spend some £600 million on measures to combat its
spread.
Meanwhile, avian ‘flu has yet to be confirmed within the boundaries of the EU after tests failed to show the H5N1 strain in samples from Greece. Across the world, mostly in S E Asia, it is now reckoned that less than 70 people have caught the disease from infected poultry and subsequently died. A similar number have been infected and survived; no cases of human to human transmission have been diagnosed or documented. The world desperately needs to develop a sense of proportion on avian ’flu.
The points outlined in this article are based on the best available information. There is no complacency at EFRC on this serious issue, just a real desire to deal with facts not fantasy and hype.
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