Bird Flu and You..

[kutsu]

So, a confirmed case of bird flu in the UK has presented itself.

oh goodies

What impact do you think this is going to have on us, and other consumers of fine poultry?

I enjoy chicken in all of its various forms, as well as duck and when I can get it, goose. However, I have this horrible feeling that She that will be obeyed wont let me eat any poultry after we use our stockpile.

Will we see a reduction of chickens for sale in the supermarkets? Will they be dirt cheap to buy? Will people shun free range where they have exposure to actual, honest to goodness fresh air?

Or will nothing happen, business as usual?

I'm hoping the latter!

[Jon Tseng]

positives: cheap chicken

negatives: poultry farmers going to the wall

[Adam Balic]

positives: cheap chicken     

negatives: poultry farmers going to the wall     

←

Well they won't be free range for very long now will they, no matter how cheap.

[Soup]

I had heard that you don't catch bird flu from eating cooked fowl. Is that true.

I suppose you could stop on your favorite bird. Get the freezer ready.

[erica graham]

No you can't catch bird flu from eating cooked chicken, you can only catch it from being in extremely close proximity to infected birds- and as the one in question was a wild swan, I think we are safe for now.

We've just taken delivery of our first batch of locally reared free range guineafowl and chicken, our lady farmer is a bit anxious, but we are hoping that comman sense is going to prevail instead of hyped up news hysteria. No intention of taking it off the menu whatsoever. (Big Full Stop)

[Hallie]

No you can't catch bird flu from eating cooked chicken, you can only catch it from being in extremely close proximity to infected birds- and as the one in question was a wild swan, I think we are safe for now.

We've just taken delivery of our first batch of locally reared free range guineafowl and chicken, our lady farmer is a bit anxious, but we are hoping that comman sense is going to prevail instead of hyped up news hysteria. No intention of taking it off the menu whatsoever. (Big Full Stop)

←

And on that note, do you actually think that bird flu just turned up here this week? Its probably been here for some time and was only just discovered. Its the usual media hysteria.

[Matthew Tomkinson]

No you can't catch bird flu from eating cooked chicken, you can only catch it from being in extremely close proximity to infected birds- and as the one in question was a wild swan, I think we are safe for now.

We've just taken delivery of our first batch of locally reared free range guineafowl and chicken, our lady farmer is a bit anxious, but we are hoping that comman sense is going to prevail instead of hyped up news hysteria. No intention of taking it off the menu whatsoever. (Big Full Stop)

←

Agree completely, all of our free range chicken, pigeon and guinea fowl comes from Landes. We are probably selling as much as we ever have done, the majority of our customers dont seem to be too concerned yet.

[Bapi]

Mathew - I certainly hope that continues as the next few weeks progress. Yet I fear that, as Erica has mentioned, a lot of, if not all the blame, currently lies with scare mongering tactics of the media. So we will have to see how the UK public react. As I understand it, the feared strain can only infect humans who have come into very close proximty with infected birds, as Erica asserts. But the pandemic that has been mooted and which is feared, will only occur when the virus can jump from human to human- not bird to human. There has yet to be a single occurence of the former happening. Let's hope that continues.

Edited April 6, 2006 by Bapi (log)

[Bapi]

Ho Hum

The swan was found eight days ago.

Edited April 6, 2006 by Bapi (log)

[Adam Balic]

It should be remembered that while a lot of the media's interest has been in the possibility of the strain mutating so that human to human transmission is possible, this strain of virus in its current form is still a threat to poultry. In fact this influenza strain was first isolated from a dead chicken from Aberdeen in the 1959.

Given the present UK government's reaction to F&M, it is entirely possible that they will place a ban of the out-door rearing of poultry. Infact, noises to this effect have already been made.