Bangladesh Slaughters 150,000 Birds After Worst H5N1 Virus Outbreak In 5 Years 76
An anonymous reader writes in with news about a bird flu outbreak in Bangladesh. "At least 150,000 chickens and 300,000 eggs have been destroyed at a giant poultry farm near Dhaka in Bangladesh after the major outbreak of avian flu was detected last week, officials said Wednesday. This season's bird flu outbreak was the worst in five years. Officials at Bay Agro at Gazipur detected the deadly H5N1 flu strain 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of Dhaka on Monday after dozens of birds died, which had prompted the poultry company to send samples to a laboratory for testing. 'There are about 150,000 chickens at the farm. We have already killed and destroyed 120,000 chickens and we will kill the rest today,' livestock department director Mosaddeq Hossain said, according to AFP. Hossain said that it was the worst avian flu outbreak in five years."
Anybody surprised? Don't be (Score:3, Interesting)
Sadly, this same thing goes on with farmed fish/shrimp throughout Asia, which is leading to some new bugs that will be arriving on these to the west.
Now, why should the west be concerned? Because all too often, weastern companies, such as safeway, ignore safety issues. Safeway will actually use chicken from Asia. Likewise, they get a lot of farmed fish/shellfish from Asia/South America.
Re:there will be a sudden uprise in weddings... (Score:4, Interesting)
No, that's not the point, the point is, I heard *a lot* of people say that such events were on the up rise, I ignored them as typical gossip... until I got that wedding card.
Asking them why the sudden change in date, (the engagement had happened only a month or so ago, and the wedding wasn't due for another six months or so...) I was *floored* by them being totally honest and describing *this* as a reason!
Then I started wondering, if one gossip is true, then how many more?
Then I start hearing about some *other* people getting married early... and my mind started spinning.
We pretty much stayed away from weddings for quite a while...
Hence my advice to others; If you start hearing gossip about early weddings, STAY THE HELL AWAY.
I mean, why the fuck would you risk a wedding turning into a tragedy simply because of rock-bottom prices of chicken? I still wonder what possessed my neighbours, I mean it was not like they were poor or anything! The father of the groom worked in the Gulf and earned a boatload of money...
Re:there will be a sudden uprise in weddings... (Score:5, Interesting)
Um, just to clarify, this is south asia we are talking about, not europe or us or other place with strict slaughter control. We have already have trouble catching meat that came from bloated animals (they pump water in the arteries to fatten up the meat...) and meat that comes from already deceased carcasses. Things are bad, here.
So let's revisit the issue. Govt orders a cull. Typically, that means it won't do it itself, just orders one to be conducted by the stock owners. People naturally get afraid, demand drops, chicken prices hit rock bottom.
Cue crazy people taking advantage of falling chicken prices to organise massive weddings. No body knows where the chicken is coming from, is it from the affected stock, is it safe blah blah.
Please don't presume, I have nothing against cheap chicken and weddings. But I know my country, I know just how *diligently* they work. If all the infected chicken had been disposed off in a proper way, then it wouldn't have mattered, because that would have ensured the other chicken was safe, it's only the stigma keeping the prices low. But given our less than amicable control system, you can't be sure of that here.
If people can cheat by bloating and dead-carcassing, you think they wouldn't stoop to a bit of bribery to ensure *their* stock is passed without checks?