Forum Replies Created
- Posts
AVIAN INFLUENZA, POULTRY VS MIGRATORY BIRDS (16)
***********************************************
A ProMED-mail postProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases[1]
Date: 30 Apr 2006
From: Joe DudleyThe below article [2] published on 16 Mar 2005 by Thanh Nien News
contains a detailed description of the various transportation systems
used in the trans-frontier poultry smuggling trade between China and
Viet Nam.This article includes an interesting statement that “old hens” [spent
layer hens] comprise a significant proportion of the live poultry
smuggling trade between Viet Nam and China. It should also be noted
in this context that bulk sales of “old birds” — most probably spent
layer hens — by commercial poultry producers were implicated as a
possible contributing factor in at least one human bird flu cluster
in Turkey (see 20060111.0100).Research presented at the 6th International Symposium on Avian
Influenza (3-6 Apr 2006) indicate that there are at least 2 reasons
why this factor may be significant:1. Genetics research on H5N1 strains circulating in Viet Nam
indicates that there was at least one new introduction of an H5N1
strain from China to Viet Nam during 2005. (The reference to the new
introduction of H5N1 to Viet Nam during 2005 came from a presentation
by Robert Webster, and the finding was published in a PNAS paper this
past February 2006 — PNAS 103(
, see pg 2847, column 2 PP 2.)2. Experimental studies have shown that vaccinated chickens can
harbor and transmit the H5N1 virus without showing any outward signs
of infection, and that vaccinated chickens as well as domesticated
ducks can serve as infectious asymptomatic carriers of the Asian H5N1
HPAI virus. (The reference for transmission by vaccinated chickens is
M. Bublot et al. of Merial (David Swayne of USDA SEPRL co-author),
and for transmission in vaccinated ducks is J.A van der Groot et al
(CIADC, Leystadt)).See also: Chen et al. Establishment of multiple sublineages of H5N1
influenza virus in Asia: Implications for pandemic control. PNAS
103(, 2845-2850).The proceedings of the 6th International Symposium on Avian Influenza
will be published in the December 2006 issue of Avian Diseases, and
the contributed papers should provide many valuable new insights into
the mechanisms underlying the spread of the H5N1 bird flu during
2005/2006 from Asia into the Middle East, Europe, and Africa.—
Joseph P. Dudley, Ph.D.
Chief Scientist
EAI Corporation
4301 North Fairfax Drive, Suite 200
Arlington, VA 22203******
[2]
Date: 1 May 2006
From: ProMED-mail
Source: Thanh Nien News, 16 Mar 2006 [edited]Concerns mount as Chinese chickens illegally flow into Viet Nam
The growing illegal import of chickens from China to Viet Nam via
northern border gates has become a concern for the country, as the
smuggling poses a threat to Viet Nam’s attempts to contain the bird flu.Although the Vietnamese prime minister has issued a ban on the import
and transportation of poultry from other countries in order to
control the spread of bird flu, smugglers have managed to set up an
elaborate system to get chickens from China across the border
unchecked. Up to 70 percent of chickens smuggled via the northern
border into Lang Son province have escaped proper checks from border
guards and police forces, said Captain Le Quang Dao, head of the
border guard station surrounding the Huu Nghi International Border Gate.According to a Thanh Nien investigation, smugglers have designed a
sophisticated system to illegally import chickens from China.1st, the chickens from China are gathered at certain areas near the
Huu Nghi Border Gate. From there, smugglers hire porters carrying
empty cages to walk up the mountain paths in the area during the night.The porters then bring the cages, which each contain 40 chickens,
down to the mountain foot where a fleet of Minsk motorbike drivers
await to carry the cages into Lang Son town. In order to avoid being
caught, the motorbike drivers drive at high speeds of 80 to 90 km per
hour. From Lang Son town, trucks then transport the smuggled chickens
to other localities.Chinese chickens are usually bought at 12 000 to 13 000 VND [USD
0.75-0.82] per kilogram at border gates and then resold for 17 000
VND [USD 1.06] in Lang Son town, according to smugglers who have been
caught. In other provinces, the price of illegally traded chickens
can go up to 40 000 VND [USD 2.50].To ensure they don’t get caught, smugglers also have people hanging
around near the offices of police and border guards. These people are
assigned to immediately sound the alarm when an officer leaves the
office.But, most smugglers are unaware of the dangers they pose by bringing
the unchecked chickens into the country. Even worse, some do not care
about their health or the health of others.On 16 Mar 2006, police forces stopped a truck carrying some 1.6 tons
of chickens smuggled from China. The chickens, worth an estimated 20
million VND [USD 1255] were then transferred to market monitors for
destruction. Most of the chickens were old hens, with some already
dead. According to local residents, the Chinese people have sold such
chickens to Viet Nam but then go to markets along the border to buy
Vietnamese chickens.When An Thi Binh from Bac Giang province was arrested as the truck
owner of the smuggled chickens, she showed no fear that the chickens
could possibly carry the bird flu. So far, “nothing has happened to
other people trading chickens like me. If anything happens, I will be
the 1st to die,” she said.According to Captain Dao, all smuggled chickens caught by police or
border guards have been destroyed.[Byline: Manh Quan]
—
ProMED-mail[Between the laxly supervised export of commercial poultry and the
efficient illegal export of live poultry, _vide supra_, and poultry
parts (see previous postings), there is much to concern the rest of
us. We are fortunate that Viet Nam has a vaccination policy. – Mod.MHJ]******
[3]
Date: 1 May 2006
From: ProMED-mail
Source: AP, CNN, 30 Apr 2006 [edited]Smuggled Pets Worry Bird Flu Watchdogs
Bird flu entering the U.S. through smuggled wildlife is a growing
worry for government officials already on the lookout for migrating
wild birds. The concern over the trade in wild animals, pets and
animal parts has some precedent, here and abroad.Gambian rats imported from Africa brought the monkeypox virus to the
United States in 2003. They infected prairie dogs purchased as pets.
72 people in the Midwest became ill but none died.In 2004, 2 Crested Hawk-Eagles carrying the virulent strain of the
H5N1 bird flu virus were seized from the hand luggage of a Thai
passenger at Brussels International Airport in Belgium. The passenger
had planned to sell the birds to a Belgian falconer. Not one of the
25 people exposed to the virus became ill. Officials killed 200
parrots and 600 smaller birds that had contact with the Crested
Hawk-Eagles.“We’re very concerned about it coming into the U.S. by whatever
means,” Assistant Secretary of State Claudia McMurray said.A surveillance plan for monitoring migratory birds says a migrating
wild bird is the most likely carrier of the H5N1 virus. The plan,
developed by the Interior and Agriculture departments and the state
of Alaska for use in all 50 states, also says the virus could arrive
through smuggled poultry, an infected traveler, black-market trade in
exotic birds or even an act of bioterrorism.Authorities in other countries are similarly wary. An estimated 4 500
chickens from China are smuggled into Viet Nam every day, and the
H5N1 virus has shown up in samples taken from some of the confiscated
birds.The United States and China are the biggest markets for an estimated
USD 10 billion global trade in illegal wildlife. The black market in
wildlife and wildlife parts is 2nd only to trafficking in arms and
drugs. “It’s not just a matter of the U.S. telling China, ‘Clean up
your act.’ The 2 of us are both going to get a handle on it
together,” said McMurray, head of the State Department’s Bureau of
Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs.About 330 000 live birds were imported into the United States in
2004. Just 374 were denied entry, suggesting smugglers may focus on
different routes. The ones denied entry came mainly from Mexico,
Guyana and Ghana. The biggest sources of live birds were Canada, with
117 000; Taiwan, 50 000; Tanzania, nearly 40 000; and Belgium, 24 000.The U.S. banned imports of all live birds, bird parts and bird
products from Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Laos,
South Korea, Thailand and Viet Nam in February 2004. Since then, the
ban has been expanded to any country or region where bird flu is
thought to exist.“The borders are where the increased emphasis needs to be,” said
Simon Habel, director of TRAFFIC North America, which works closely
with the U.N. Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species
of Wild Fauna and Flora, based in Geneva, Switzerland. “There’s an
endless string of clever ways people try to bring birds and animals
into the country,” said Habel, whose trade-monitoring network is a
joint program of the World Wildlife Fund and IUCN-The World Conservation
Union.More than 200 Fish and Wildlife Service special agents also do
old-fashioned police work to try to stop the trade. “The problem is
illegal trade that’s underground, where smugglers are bypassing that
whole structure of quarantine and permits,” said Nicholas
Throckmorton, an agency spokesman.An additional 120 agency field officers inspect wildlife shipments at
35 ports, airports and other locations, alongside Customs and Border
Patrol officials. The State Department hopes to also enlist private
businesses in that effort. “The labeling on these items that come in,
people don’t tell the truth about what’s in them,” McMurray said.
“That’s part of the reason why I want to talk to the airlines, the
shippers, the Fed-Exes and the UPSes of the world and say, ‘Help us
with this.'”[Byline: John Heilprin]
—
ProMED-mail[While one might argue that infected smuggled birds present no risk
because they will die en route or end up in an urban pet store — a
similar argument to that about regularly vaccinated unexposed
apartment dogs being at zero risk of rabies, so why go to the expense
of ensuring their vaccination — the reality is that the volume of
smuggled wildlife, including birds, is vast. Thus, even if only a
trivial proportion are likely to come in contact, directly or
indirectly, with poultry, thus potentially generating a really
significant volume of virus, the outcome of trivial .P x 1000’s of
birds comes to mean something in epidemiologic reality.Our young members will not remember the parrot craze of the early
1970s. Parrots in unbelievable numbers were moved out of Africa and
South America to the northern latitudes, legally and illegally. This
resulted in Newcastle disease epidemics in the Middle East and
Eastern Europe, and in the USA, UK, and Western Europe. The cost was
enormous. – Mod.MHJ][see also:
Avian influenza, poultry vs migratory birds (15) 20060429.1240
Avian influenza, poultry vs migratory birds (14) 20060422.1176
Avian influenza, poultry vs. migratory birds (13) 20060414.1114
Avian influenza – poultry vs. migratory birds (12) 20060413.1099
Avian influenza, poultry vs migratory birds (11) 20060412.1088
Avian influenza, poultry vs migratory birds (10) 20060324.0907
Avian influenza, poultry vs migratory birds (09) 20060320.0867
Avian influenza, poultry vs migratory birds (08) 20060309.0749
Avian influenza, poultry vs migratory birds (07) 20060305.0721
Avian influenza, poultry vs migratory birds (06) 20060303.0670
Avian influenza, poultry vs migratory birds (05) 20060228.0645
Avian influenza, poultry vs migratory birds (04) 20060227.0638
Avian influenza, poultry vs migratory birds (03) 20060222.0578
Avian influenza, poultry vs migratory birds (02) 20060218.0536
Avian influenza, poultry vs migratory birds 20060217.0516]
………….mhj/msp/mppI’ve posted first part of this to thread on evolutionary biology; but implications for farms n biosecurity, so adding here too:
Further evidence of evolutionary biology at work in poultry farms comes from UK’s H7N3 outbreak. (Not conclusive here, but fits evol biology – as ever with flu.)
Quote:Birds on the free range unit, however, suffered only a mild form of the flu and none died from the infection….the virus was transported from the egg farm to the Banhams chicken farm, where it killed some 400 chickens and triggered a drop in egg production by other birds.
note also, from intensive farms:
Quote:Blood samples from birds on their farm showed that they had been exposed to the H7N3 virus as long ago as four weeks.– during which, presumably, the virus evolved towards virulence in the “disease factories”
Original, low path virus thought to have been introduced to free-range flock, from wild birds.
Now this may be possible (a few routes mooted).
But, again, leads to serious questions re poultry farming, and conservation.
Do we really want farms that are hermetically sealed from outside world (and yes, that is really impossible, tho can have very tight security)? Ensure wild birds are kept away from poultry farms – like the US farm with not even a tree.Or do we aim for farming system that can detect bird flus; and have farming systems/measures to guard against introduced strains of flu evolving to virulence?
(Then, can biosecurity really work now, or is it too late; I’ve seen paper on poultry in China market, where had several strains of flu.)Further evidence of evolutionary biology at work in poultry farms comes from UK's H7N3 outbreak. (Not conclusive here, but fits evol biology – as ever with flu.)
Quote:Birds on the free range unit, however, suffered only a mild form of the flu and none died from the infection…. the virus was transported from the egg farm to the Banhams chicken farm, where it killed some 400 chickens and triggered a drop in egg production by other birds.note also, from intensive farms:
Quote:Blood samples from birds on their farm showed that they had been exposed to the H7N3 virus as long ago as four weeks.– during which, presumably, the virus evolved towards virulence in the "disease factories" Vets track spread of bird flu strain
NOVOSIBIRSK…
On the third day after the discovery of the spring season of hunting provincial authorities published order "about taking of measures for warning of the spread of the influenza of birds in the territory of Novosibirskaya Oblast". In it it is discussed the organization of mobile groups and special brigades of hunters on the shooting of the wild planktonic birds. … Traditionally birds rest in the southwestern part of Novosibirskaya Oblast – Dovolenskeye, Zdvinskeye, Baganskeye, Kupinskeye, Chanovskeye, Krasnozerskeye regions. The primary task of mobile groups and special brigades of hunters – not to allow the contact of poultry with ptakhami migratory. They are provided for this and work on frightening off of those be planktonicing from the reservoirs – the specially trained people will actively make noise – and the shooting of bird. At this time obizhennye with the limited quantity of licenses and by prohibition to the shooting of the planktonic bird the hunters will nevertheless "fire", in spite of prohibition. To a question, as control of the disturbers will be achieved, the Deputy Department Chief Of rossel’khoznadzora for NSO Aleksey Sevostyan answered: – as always! In the places of nesting birds special control with the attraction of the colleagues OF MVD will be achieved. To the period of the discovery season in them is conducted the operation "hunter". Furthermore, we are intended directly "at the places" to continue to conduct explanatory work with the hunters….
http://www.annews.ru/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=40546
“Migratory birds in Tyumen’ Oblast will fire back the special brigades”28.04.2006 20:27
SURGUT, on 28 April (corr. ANN Nikolai Ivlev). Brigades on
frightening off and shooting of wild birds will be created in Tyumen’
Oblast. To fire back is permitted all feathered, except those carried
into the Red Books.As they reported in the press- service of the governor of region, the
decision “about the measures for warning of the spread of the
influenza of birds in the spring-summer period of 2006″ it signed the
chapter of region.“in the document it is discussed the organization of brigade on
frightening off and shooting of wild birds and about the delivery
permission to the shooting of birds. To fire back is permitted all
feathered, except carried into the Red Books of the International
Union for Conservation of nature and natural resources and Russian
Federation “, they refined in the press- service of governor.Check the performance of order they will be the department of the
agribusiness of Tyumen’ Oblast.More scary predictions in America, from yet another expert who seems oblivious to natural selection (evolutionary biology):
Quote:It’s not a matter of if… but a matter of when. Those were the words of Dennis Perrotta, associate professor of epidemiology and biosecurity with the University of Texas School of Public Health, as he addressed the Angelina County Pandemic Influenza Task Force this past week in a workshop session held at Angelina College. "We are long overdue for pandemic influenza. If history is a predictor of current events — and it usually is — it’s going to happen," Perrotta said. People who know, like scientists and officials at the Center for Disease Control, have been talking about the threat of pandemic influenza for 10 years now, he said."Now it’s important to know because of the 100 or so (human) deaths of the 200 or so cases (of bird flu). That’s a lot of people dying. It’s a striking number." Throughout the ages, Perrotta said, influenza started in birds and ended in people. The virus right now is large in birds and has affected only a small number of people, he said. But once it mutates, developing the ability to spread from person to person, and if it still retains the 54 percent kill rate that it is showing now, he said, "that’s a global pandemic."
Even if it has a kill rate of even 25 percent, that’s a huge impact, he said. A pandemic strain will cause severe disease in humans because the global human population will not have pre-existing immunity, and it will spread rapidly from human to human. The pandemic will move around the world in six to eight weeks, he said. Twenty to 30 percent will contract influenza during the first wave. …
The threat isn’t the bird, he said. The threat is human. "More times humans get in touch with birds, more of a chance of human to human contact … that genetic magic might happen." …
It will be like tornadoes that are spawned from a hurricane — one disaster brings other related ones.":ohmy: During such an outbreak, Perrotta said, medicines may or may not help. "Healthcare will be overwhelmed." The first vaccine will not be available for four to five months until after the pandemic arrives, and even then, it will be in limited quantity….
Expert paints grim picture of global bird flu outbreak
By MARGIE MASON | Associated Press April 27, 2006
LANG SON, Vietnam (AP) – Hired runners strap bamboo cages loaded with 20 live chickens onto their backs in China. Under cover of darkness, they navigate well-worn footpaths across a mountain into Vietnam, where bicycles wait to haul the clucking contraband away. The smugglers easily evade patrols along the rugged 1,350-kilometer (840-mile) border by using two-way radios and a network of illegal crossings that have become gateways for a new threat _ bird flu. Vietnam estimates about 4,500 chickens are trafficked into the country this way every day from China in a trade that is nearly impossible to police because of scarce resources. The H5N1 bird flu virus has recently shown up in samples taken from confiscated birds, raising the stakes in Vietnam’s battle to shift from the hardest-hit country to one that has successfully contained the virus. "I think there is a very large undercover, underground trade that is going on," said Dr. Jeff Gilbert, an animal health expert at the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization in Vietnam. "I think the biggest risk of re-infection (in Vietnam) is infection from China." [So, FAO thinks there’s a big underground trade now? Why so little word of this from FAO over past year or more, when FAO has been so busy blaming wild birds?] Many scientists [hmm; some scientists, and many idiots; even some idiotic scientists] believe much of the worldwide spread of H5N1 is linked to the migration of wild birds, but the Paris-based World Organization for Animal Health says it is investigating the possible role smuggling has played in some countries. [Taken them time, but at last may be after right culprit, not just the Tooth Fairy Bird]
Last year, Taiwan confirmed its first case of bird flu, which was found in birds smuggled from China. A Nigerian official also has blamed illegal poultry imports for introducing the virus there earlier this year, though agency spokeswoman Maria Zampaglione said that has not been confirmed. She said the organization is recommending that governments worldwide pay more attention to the illegal trade of poultry, but said China is not specifically being looked at as a source. Chinese officials have not responded to queries about whether smuggling has occurred. … a global smuggling network that has long existed hasn’t been shut down by new bird flu precautions. "There’s lots of illicit movements of livestock products around the world," said Dr. Peter Roeder, an animal health expert at the FAO’s base in Rome. "The meat comes in packed in vegetable containers and with other goods and the customs authorities just find it extremely difficult to be on top and inspecting everything."
In the past, infected beef and pork smuggled into Europe from Asia were blamed for outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease and classical swine fever, Roeder said. Roeder said he wouldn’t be surprised if frozen poultry meat from Asia is entering Europe illegally. He said another worry is the trade of manure-based fertilizers and animal feed, which often contains ground up poultry parts, from infected countries. FAO is examining what role they could play in the spread of H5N1. [Late of FAO to say this; bird conservationists have been attempting to highlight potential role of poultry manure for some time.]
Vietnam, where most human infections and deaths have occurred, launched a nationwide poultry vaccination campaign last year and has intensified surveillance and public awareness. It has not detected any outbreaks in poultry for four months and no human cases have been reported since November. Its success has boosted demand for poultry as more Vietnamese shed their fears of eating infected meat. That, in turn, has fueled the smuggling. Smuggled birds typically come from large Chinese farms where high volume and low feed prices keep overall costs low. The poultry can be resold in Vietnam for up to five times more, depending on the market. For instance, older chickens that no longer lay eggs can be bought by smugglers for about 14,000 dong (88 cents) per kilogram, and can end up in markets in Hanoi and other cities.
In the Vietnamese border town of Lang Son, such birds fetch 37,000 dong (US$2.34) a kilogram _ still 10,000 dong (63 cents) cheaper per kilogram than Vietnamese-farmed chicken, said Do Van Duoc, director of the Lang Son Department of Animal Health. In Vietnam, no outbreaks have been directly linked to smuggled poultry from China. But it’s market inspector Lanh Van Nghe’s biggest fear. He leads an eight-man team responsible for stopping all Chinese poultry and eggs from entering Vietnam along a 100-kilometer (62-mile) stretch of border near the town of Dong Dang _ too few to be really effective, he says. Dirt paths, some as wide as roads, have been worn into the landscape by traffickers toting in everything from bootlegged DVDs to shoes and electronics. "Sometimes we lay our ambush until two or three in the morning," Nghe said. "Nearly a month ago, the smugglers built a cart, so they could use the railway here to transport up to eight cages of chickens. They moved the smuggled chickens for two kilometers to evade a checkpoint."
ACTION ALERT FORWARD WIDELY! China Olympics 2008:
Destroying Papua’s Ancient Rainforests to Raise the Olympic Torch By Rainforest Portal, project of Ecological Internet, Inc. http://www.rainforestportal.org/ April 30, 2006 TAKE ACTION Protest China’s Plundering of Ancient Indonesian Rainforests to Build 2008 Olympic Facilities
With two-and-a-half years to go until the start of the 2008 Olympics to be held in Beijing China, the Chinese government has recently placed a $1 billion rush order for endangered rainforest timbers from Indonesia’s Papua province to be used in construction for the games. A proposed timber processing factory would industrially harvest 800,000 cubic meters of the famous and threatened merbau (intsia spp) rainforest timbers, to be exported to China for the construction of sports facilities. Indonesia’s Papua province on the island of New Guinea has some of the world’s last remaining large intact rainforests.
These rainforests are millions of years old, contain untold biodiversity and evolutionary history, and provide critical regional and global ecosystem processes. An investment of this size will only serve to legitimize and further fuel illegal, highly unsustainable, and ecologically devastating logging, ensuring the destruction of this critically threatened ancient rainforest. It is against the Olympic ideals of bringing "people together in peace to respect universal moral principles" when the events are housed in ancient rainforest timbers of questionable legality and morality. Please insist the Chinese government commit to hosting an "old-growth, ancient forest free" Olympics.
email from Rainforest portal
Hopes Dim Further for Indonesia’s Rainforests
***********************************************
Rainforest Portal a project of Ecological Internet, Inc.
http://www.rainforestportal.org/ — Rainforest Portal
http://www.rainforestportal.org/news/ — Rainforest NewsfeedApril 28, 2006
OVERVIEW & COMMENTARY by Dr. Glen Barry, Rainforest PortalA month ago I made the audacious statement that the rainforest
movement had achieved a victory in protecting Indonesia’s
rainforests and orangutans from a huge oil palm plantation. I
made this statement fully aware that Indonesia’s rainforests
were in frenzied crisis and hoping that supporting those in
government working to conserve rainforests from such atrocities
could make a positive difference. This hope has proven fleeting.
I now realize I was wrong, am retracting the victory claim, and
have realized there is little or no hope for Indonesia’s large
and intact ancient rainforests. I apologize for my error.The latest news is that a Chinese company intends to set-up a
massive timber plant in Indonesian Papua to process rare
rainforest timbers for Olympic construction. This will set the
stage for the final destruction of these relatively intact
rainforests. The second story details the ongoing power struggle
between various Indonesian factions for and against the massive
oil palm project. These actions – which are so grossly unjust
and unsustainable, and our inability to stop them – show just
how impotent the rainforest movement has become.Together with the nearly four million hectares of deforestation
already occurring annually in Indonesia’s rainforests, the new
forces of rainforest destruction arrayed against Indonesia’s
rainforest ecosystems are simply too great. Nothing can stand
against a billion Chinese consumers all aspiring to the wasteful
and deadly living standards of Americans and Europeans.Ecological Internet will continue our campaign to support those
in the Indonesian government that oppose these projects. But
frankly, there is little hope that anything but the smallest
little fragmented bits of Indonesia’s rainforests will ever be
protected, and perhaps I was crazy for saying there was. Let’s
keep on trying nonetheless.
g.b.*******************************
RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
ITEM #1
Indonesia: Chinese firm seeks license to build $1 billion timber
plant in Papua
Source: Copyright 2006, Jakarta Post
Date: April 28, 2006
Byline: Tb. Arie RukmantaraA Chinese company is seeking for the government’s approval to
set up a timber processing factory worth up to US$1 billion in
Papua province.Forestry Minister Malem Sambat Kaban said in Jakarta on Tuesday
that the plant would process the province’s famous merbau
(intsia spp) timber, which would then be exported to China for
the construction of sports facilities for the 2008 Olympic
Games.“They need 800,000 cubic meters of merbau timber for the 2008
Olympics in China,” Kaban told reporters at a breakfast meeting
at his official residence in Central Jakarta.He said the Chinese company would invest up to $1 billion on the
construction of the plant and on acquiring Merbau logs.Merbau is a dark, luxurious, red wood that is primarily used for
the manufacturing of hardwood floors, and can command prices of
up to US$138 per square meter. Merbau in round logs costs
between $200 and $275 per cubic meter on the global market.The merbau tree is endemic in the Indonesian provinces of Papua
and West Irian, as well as in neighboring Papua New Guinea.Experts forecast that China’s drive to develop its
infrastructure to host the Olympics will consume tens of
millions of cubic meters of primary forestry products, including
solid wood flooring.Kaban said that setting up the timber plant in Papua was the
only way that the company could meet its timber needs as the
government has banned the export of round logs since 2001.“The company must process all the logs on the ground in Papua
and then ship them to China as processed timber,” he said,
adding that the investment deal was expected to be concluded
this year.The government slapped an export ban on unprocessed logs in 2001
to curb rampant illegal logging, which had been devastating 2.8
million hectares of forest and inflicting losses on the taxpayer
of about $4 billion per year.Environmentalists are opposed to any project that would further
accelerate deforestation in Papua, which has some of the world’s
last remaining large intact forests. However, these forests have
come under severe pressure from the rampant illegal logging of
merbau and granting of massive logging concessions.“The size of the investment is tempting, but the government
needs to consider whether there are enough raw materials to
supply this plant. If there isn’t, the company’s presence might
only serve to legalize and fuel further illegal logging,” said
Greenomics executive director Elfian Effendy.Environmental groups have said that China’s growing timber
industry consumes almost all of the estimated 300,000 cubic
meters of merbau smuggled out of Papua every month.Forestry Ministry spokesperson Masyhud said that the ministry
would ensure that the company would only be supplied with logs
harvested from timber plantations, and would also require the
company to establish its own timber plantations.“Should the planned investment be approved by both sides, we
will require them to apply sustainable forestry management
measures as we are confident that such a large investment will
mean a long-term presence,” he said.ITEM #2
Title: The end of Borneo’s tropical forests?
Source: Copyright 2006, New York Times
Date: April 28, 2006
Byline: Jane PerlezFor generations, Anyie Apui and his people have gotten by on
fish and wild game, made do without roads, and left their
majestic trees intact. But all that is about to change.The Indonesian government recently signed a deal with China that
would rip into some of the last untouched tropical forests here
on Borneo, where dozens of new species have been found in recent
years in an area so vital it is sometimes called the lungs of
Southeast Asia.For China, the wood from the forest will provide flooring and
furniture for its ever-expanding middle class, and in its place
will be planted vast plantations for palm oil, an increasingly
popular ingredient in detergents, soaps, and lipstick.For Anyie and his clan, the deal will bring jobs and the
opportunity for a modern life.“We love our forest, but I want to build the road for my people,
I owe it to them,” said Anyie, 63, an astute elder of the Dayak
people. “We’ve had enough of this kind of living.”The forest-to-palm-oil deal, one of an array of projects that
China said it would develop in Indonesia as part of a $7 billion
investment spree last year, illustrates the increasingly
symbiotic relationship between China’s need for a wide variety
of raw materials and its Asian neighbors’ readiness to provide
them – often at enormous environmental cost.From Malaysia to Indonesia to Myanmar, many of the once-
plentiful forests of Southeast Asia are already gone, stripped
legally or illegally, including some in the low-lying lands here
in Kalimantan, on the Indonesian side of Borneo.Those that remain, like the towering stands in Anyie’s part of
the highlands, are ever-pressed, ever-prized and ever more
valuable, particularly as China’s economy continues to surge.
Only half of Borneo’s original forests still stand.Overall, Indonesia says it expects China to invest $30 billion
in the next decade, a big infusion of capital that contrasts
with the declining investment here and in the region by American
companies.Much of that Chinese investment is aimed at the extractive
industries, along with infrastructure like refineries, railroads
and toll roads to help speed the flow of Indonesia’s plentiful
coal, oil, gas, timber, and palm oil to China’s ports.On April 19, Indonesia announced that China had placed a $1
billion rush order for 800,000 cubic meters, or 28.2 million
cubic feet, of an expensive red- brown hardwood, called merbau,
to be used in construction of its sports facilities for the 2008
Olympic Games.Merbau wood, mostly prevalent in Papua’s virgin forests, has
been illegally logged and shipped to China since the late 1990s,
stripping large swaths of forest in the Indonesian province on
the western side of the island of New Guinea.The decision to award a $1 billion concession to China would
“increase the deforestation of Papua,” a place of extraordinary
biodiversity, said Elfian Effendy, executive director of
Greenomics, an Indonesian environmental watchdog. “It’s not
sustainable.”The plan for palm oil plantations in Borneo was signed during a
visit by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia to
Beijing last July.Major consumer companies like Procter & Gamble say they are
using more palm oil in their products instead of refined crude
oil; palm oil is favored for cooking by the growing Chinese
middle class, and it is being explored as an alternative fuel.Chopping down as much as 1.8 million hectares, or about 4.5
million acres, of the last straight-stemmed, slow-growing
towering dipterocarp trees in Borneo, which botanists say are
essential for sustaining a valuable ecosystem for plants,
animals and people, has raised a storm of protest from
Indonesia’s environmentalists, and some economists.Maps for the project show it would engulf much of the forests in
Kayan Mentarang National Park, where the intoxicating mix of
high altitude and equatorial humidity breeds a rare diversity of
species, second only to Papua’s, biologists say.The area serves as the source of 14 of the 20 major rivers on
Borneo, and the destruction of the forests would threaten water
supplies to coastal towns, said Stuart Chapman, a director at
the World Wildlife Fund in Indonesia.Under pressure from environmental groups, the Indonesian
minister of environment and the minister of forestry both said
they opposed the plan.The coordinating minister for economic affairs, Boediono, said
this month that he was still deciding the “pros and cons” of
whether the entire plan would be executed.But the head of the Indonesian military, General Djoko Suyanto,
whose forces are heavily involved in Indonesia’s illegal
forestry businesses, vigorously endorsed the plan during a visit
to the Borneo border region in March.For years, Anyie, the Dayak elder, said he had resisted offers
from commercial contractors to cut down the forest around his
village, adjacent to the park.He had worked hard, too, to keep the old ways of life, which
until 40 years ago included forays into head hunting, he
explained, showing visitors the skull of a Malaysian soldier
stowed in his attic, a souvenir from the 1965 Indonesian border
war with Malaysia.But now it was time for a change, he said.
“People have told me, ‘Wood is gold, you’re still too honest,'”
said Anyie, a diminutive man with brush cut black hair.His own grown children had deserted the village for big towns,
and the villagers left behind were tired of traveling everywhere
by foot (three days to neighboring Malaysia, where jobs in palm
oil plantations are plentiful) or by river boats powered by
anemic 10- horsepower engines.For visitors, the journey is just as arduous. Today the area can
be reached only by light plane, a pummeling voyage over rapids
in an open wooden canoe and then a trek through tangles of trees
and creepers.A three-day stay at a research station deep inside the forest
told what is at stake for the ecosystem, first documented by
Charles Darwin’s colleague, Alfred Russel Wallace, in an account
in the late 1850s called “The Malay Archipelago.”Wild mango trees, tropical oaks, pale-trunked myrtles, sago
palms, rattan trees, and pandanas with shiny leaves like long
prongs crowded the hills that rise almost vertically above the
river.Exceedingly tall and elegant dipterocarps towered over all,
their green canopies filtering shards of occasional sunlight.
Underfoot, tiny dew encrusted green mosses, still damp in the
afternoon, clung to rocks, and miniature versions of African
violets, poked their mauve flowers just above the ground.Wildlife abounds, said Stephan Wulffraat, 39, a Dutch
conservation biologist and the director of the research station
run by the World Wildlife Fund.The forest is home to seven species of leaf monkeys, he said,
and at high noon, a crashing sound high in the trees announced a
group’s arrival. A red coated deer made a fleeting appearance
and dashed off.In some areas of the gloomy forest floor, Wulffraat, who fended
off leeches with his pant legs tucked into knee- length football
socks, has set more than a dozen camera traps to photograph
wildlife, which is shy to appear.Three years ago, an animal the size of a large cat with a bushy
tail with a reddish fur sauntered by the camera. Wulffraat, a
seven-year veteran of the forest, said the animal resembled a
civet, but he and other experts believe it was an entirely new
species, he said.The discovery of a species of mammal like a civet is unusual,
but dozens of new species of trees, mosses and herbs,
butterflies, frogs, fresh water prawns and snakes have all been
found since the station opened in 1991, he said.“This field station has more frogs and snake species around than
in all of Europe,” Wulffraat said.Farther out from the field station there were still unmapped
areas.“We found an area with trees with trunks one meter in diameter
and a huge canopy,” he said. “If the logging companies could get
there, they would be there in a minute.”Until now, the forests at these higher elevations have been
protected by their sheer inaccessibility. To get back to the
coast from the research station, for instance, takes a 15-hour
journey along a 560-kilometer, or 350-mile, stretch of the Bahau
and Kayan rivers in a wooden longboat powered by three outboard
motors.In contrast, the forests in lowland Kalimantan, where roads have
been hacked into the land, are so ravaged by logging they will
have disappeared by 2010, the World Bank says.As the roads start penetrating Anyie’s area, the upland forests
will begin to disappear here, too. The solution to the dilemma
between the local people’s yearning for jobs and preserving the
forest was to persuade the logging companies and the government
to adopt sustainable management plans, Wulffraat said.Such a plan would allow logging only in specially certified
areas, he said. But so far, he said, that had proved a losing
proposition.“In about 30 years,” said Anyie, the tribal elder, “the forest
will be gone.”Muktita Suhartono contributed reporting for this article.
Seems there is madness sweeping through too much of Russia.
http://www.redbook.ru/index.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=326
“Staff approached the work”On 28 March took place the first session of staff on the opposition
of propagation in the territory of the Chelyabinsk province of bird
influenza. The work of staff headed the first deputy governor Andrey
Kosilov.
…
Since the beginning of the year the veterinary
services of region conducted more than 5,4 thousand diagnostic
studies. Thus far bird influenza is not discovered in the territory
of region. However, specialists await appearance in the
yuzhnoural’skikh lakes of the migratory bird in two weeks.
Frightening off and shooting of birds in a radius of 50 km from the
populated areas will be organized in the territory of region. Will be
organized 100-150 brigades, which will be under the tight control of
news its shooting and utilization. Extensive explanatory work will be
carry ouied among the population of region, since in this year will
be forbidden not only the hunting the planktonic bird, but also the
free enclosure of poultry.http://www.regnum.ru/news/631975.html
“In Tyumen’ Oblast the shooting of the wild birds began”Governor of Tyumen’ Oblast Vladimir Yakushev signed order “about the
measures for warning of the spread of the influenza of birds in the
spring-summer period of 2006″. As they reported to the correspondent
IA REGNUM in the press- service of the governor of Tyumen’ Oblast, in
the document it is discussed the organization of brigade on
frightening off and shooting of wild birds, besides carried into the
Red Books of the International Union for Conservation of nature and
natural resources and Russian Federation, about the delivery
permission to the shooting of birds.Control of the performance of order is entrusted to the deputy
governor of Tyumen’ Oblast, director of the department of the
agribusiness of Tyumen’ Oblast on Vladimir Covina.Thanks Cole, seen this (some comments elsewhere in this forum).
Curious paper, isn’t it?
Science involving wild birds, yet such ignorance of wild birds – seems they couldn’t even identify the ducks at Poyang; then Webster later showed himself clueless re migration routes in Asia.From a correspondent: Just came across this article. Appears the Russians are hell bent on blaming wild birds. I dread to think what "The situation has been neutralized," means.
Apr 25 2006 6:49PM Epicenter of pandemic bird flu strain shifts to Russia – Onishchenko MOSCOW. April 25 (Interfax) – A bird flu pandemic is highly probable in Russia this summer, said Gennady Onishchenko, chief of Rospotrebnadzor, Russia’s consumer rights watchdog. "The epicenter of the bird flu virus’s pandemic strain formation has shifted to Russia," Onishchenko told a news conference on Tuesday. Therefore, Rospotrebnadzor and other agencies’ serious and successful work will largely determine when the pandemic strain strikes our planet, he said. Due to unusually cold temperatures in the Southern Caspian region – in Iran and Turkey–and rather warm weather in southern Russia this year, migrating birds nested in unlikely places. "This explains early bird flu outbreaks in Dagestan and other locations in the Southern Federal District," Onishchenko said. "The situation has been neutralized," Onishchenko added.
http://www.regnum.ru/news/628900.html
“They will destroy wild birds in the Chita province for training purposes”On 25 April in the Chita province start the two-day commanding staff
studies of summary epizootic force on the fight with the bird
influenza. As they reported to the correspondent IA REGNUM in the
provincial administration of veterinary science, study they will pass
in the territory of Chita region – in the village Makkaveyevo.Spacing system for the transport will be introduced during the
studies, the capture of vagrant birds and their utilization is
organized, the process of the vaccination of poultry is demonstrated,
are shown methods in the non-admission of contact on the reservoirs
of wild bird with the relative and further. In the opinion of
organizers, study they will make it possible to be convinced of the
readiness of the specialized services for the fight against the
outbreak of disease in the territory of Transbaykal.Quote:The government has acknowledged there are holes in its defenses aimed at halting poultry smuggling.
Conservationists want authorities to stop the trafficking of poultry from the mainland, an act that they say occurs in broad daylight in Hong Kong waters.The government does not carry out tests to determine if chickens on sale in village wet markets have been smuggled in. This is something that bothers conservationists.
“[Smugglers] are packing the frozen meat in China and saying it’s from other sources. It’s easy to just print a box,” says Paul Hodgson, a reef specialist who runs a marine consultancy business in Sai Kung, and has spent time observing smugglers.
He said that, on one occasion, he had found more than 60 tonnes of chicken meat on the reefs, some of it in boxes marked “Belgium.”
Smugglers use small fishing boats, called P4s, to offload poultry onto islands in New Territories country parks.
In some cases, local fishermen and villagers remove the chicken from the reefs and islands where it is sometimes dumped to avoid detection. Hodgson says such chicken can sometimes end up in village freezers and wet markets.
He says Customs and Excise Department officers should be arresting these poultry smugglers, but instead much of their time is taken up with efforts to detect pirated DVDs that are being smuggled in.
The department disagrees with Hodgson’s assertion.
An official says the department’s initiative to stop smuggling, called Operation Eagle, has, since its commencement in October, netted 255,151 kilograms of poultry up to the end of December, and “28 live chickens/birds at the air, land and sea boundary.”
From the start of the year through to April 12, a further 22,490 kilograms have been seized, but the customs official did not say where that illegal meat was seized.
…
“I think they are culling the chickens [in China] and putting them in boxes, saying they’re from Belgium, and sending it out.”He wonders: “Why don’t they just bring it into Hong Kong? It would have cleared through customs.”
They do not bring it into Hong Kong because of fears about avian flu and the government’s screening measures. The government says it does everything in its power to control the flow of poultry into Hong Kong, especially in the wake of the avian flu fears in the past year.
But it does not use testing “regularly” to verify whether frozen meat in village markets actually comes from legitimate sources, according to an information officer at the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department.
“Officers are deployed [in village wet markets] randomly to check the live chickens, but not to check whether they are smuggled,” the information officer says.
She also said it is common practice for inspectors to check receipts of meat sales to vendors if, in certain cases, it is suspected the meat had been brought in illegally.
“According to our inspections, if they cannot show the receipts, we would follow up case by case. Sometimes we would charge them, but first we would seize the meat,” the officer says.
The department checks for certificates that verify the chicken had been brought in legally.
…
Hodgson recommends that the government first find out where the chicken is being shipped from, and in this way someone can search for a solution to ease any fears over chicken meat.“Get some of the chicken … and find out where the hell it is actually coming from,” Hodgson says.
“What I think is that the government doesn’t want to know, so they are not going to do it.”….
more on bird smuggling: an extensive problem
Quote:A GOVERNMENT inquiry has been launched into an illegal bird-smuggling
racket that has exposed serious flaws in Ireland’s defences against
avian flu.A Sunday Times investigation has revealed that a consignment of
exotic birds was brought illegally into Rosslare harbour on Good
Friday and sold to dealers in Dublin, Cork, Waterford, Wexford,
Limerick and Portlaoise, even though officials had detailed knowledge
of the plans in advance. Up to 30 of the birds died in transit and
were dumped in plastic bags in the midlands.Some of the birds are believed to have come from eastern Europe,
where the deadly H5N1 virus has been confirmed. The carcasses have
not been recovered. The remaining birds, dispatched across Ireland,
have not been quarantined, despite being transported with the dead
ones.
…
Under EU and Irish law, the agriculture department must be told 24
hours before birds can be imported into Irish ports and airports, but
breeders say thousands of birds are brought illegally into Ireland
each year.
…
The trade in wild birds is highly lucrative, second only to drug
dealing. A special unit has been established by the NPWS to crack
down on the illegal trapping and trading of wild birds and several
prosecutions are pending….More on the madness resulting in large part from bird flu fears (also, here, Newcastle Disease):
Quote:Tom Silva’s chickens pump out 1.4 million eggs a day, but his operation looks more like a prison than a farm. To reach his hen houses, an intruder would have to scale eight-foot fences topped by razor wire, then sneak past surveillance cameras. "Biosecurity" is the buzzword du jour at chicken, turkey and egg operations across the country. A bird flu pandemic sweeping through flocks in Southeast Asia and beyond has spurred American commercial farmers to tighten their defenses. "This is certainly the biggest issue facing the industry today, no question about that," said Richard Lobb, spokesman for the National Chicken Council. The stakes are especially high in California, where a $2.5 billion poultry industry ranks among the top 10 producers nationwide for dinner chicken, turkey and table egg output. State officials say migratory bird routes that stretch southward from the Bering Strait and down the West Coast could bring the disease by this summer.A tradition of raising "backyard chickens" for eggs, meat, cockfighting and bird shows runs deep in some Asian and Hispanic subcultures here in the Central Valley. Industry executives and state officials say these backyard birds number in the millions, and they worry these birds out in the open could be exposed to sick migrating flocks. Then they could pass the disease to their owners – many of whom work at commercial poultry operations. And there is painful precedent here. An outbreak of Exotic Newcastle disease killed more than 3.1 million birds, mostly poultry, in Southern California in 2002 and 2003. Silva, vice president of the valley’s J.S. West Milling Co., is as concerned about human carriers walking into his four facilities as he is about keeping sick birds out. "If it gets into our industry, the only way to get it out is to euthanize complete complexes like this," he said during a tour of an egg-laying operation whose 1.5 million hens alone he valued at nearly $10 million.
The tour was brief, because no outsiders are allowed beyond the "STOP: BIOSECURE AREA" sign and razor wire – not even the lab workers who collect blood samples once a month for disease testing. They too are on Silva’s payroll. Even the short tour provided striking evidence of the measures the poultry industry is taking to combat bird flu before it reaches America. Today, all trucks entering and exiting Silva’s complex get an automated bath of ammonia-based disinfectant. Incoming drivers are asked where they’ve been and whether they’ve been exposed to poultry. Every employee enters the site through a "dirty door" into a trailer that serves as a changing room. They swap their street clothes for pre-washed boots, hats and coveralls, then enter the hen houses through a "clean door." They reverse the process on the way out. Various poultry companies even try to avoid each other on the road. They plot routes and stagger deliveries throughout the day, on the premise that the virus might jump from truck to truck. …
Foster Farms is taking a different approach with its "broiler"-raising farms. One of its facilities, the 120-acre Gurr Ranch, is not ringed by razor wire or even fencing. The hen houses are padlocked, and outsiders are not welcome, but the real emphasis is on making the ranch as repulsive as possible to migrating birds. The resulting landscape looks like a moon base, intentionally devoid of trees and ponds but colonized by 64 identical outbuildings that house nearly 1.3 million chickens.
Migrating birds are looking for food, water and shelter, said Charles Corsiglia, an avian veterinarian on the staff of Livingston, Calif.-based Foster Farms, the biggest poultry company in the West. "If we make our farms so that they don’t have those things as they’re flying over, they say, ‘You know, that looks like a really bad place to land, because there’s nowhere for me to waddle around,’" Corsiglia said. "’So I’m going to land at the dairy, or the canal.’" Like the J.S. West Milling facility, the farm buildings are meant to be impenetrable by outside birds, though swallows flitted in and out of the eaves one recent morning. Corsiglia said these visitors can’t get into the hen houses. Every person must don disposable plastic boots before setting foot on the Gurr Ranch property. And truckers delivering feed are required to hose their rigs off with the same ammonia-based disinfectant used at J.S. West Milling. It’s all part of Corsiglia’s three-part formula for biosecurity: isolating birds from disease, controlling people and equipment who come and go, and sanitizing everything. "Animals that aren’t exposed to disease don’t get sick from those diseases," Corsiglia said. "The logic is so simple, it’s laughable." Exotic Newcastle hurt the industry, but forced it and the government to refine surveillance and response procedures, Corsiglia said.
U.S. Department of Agriculture officials believe farm workers who kept cockfighting roosters at home brought the disease to the egg farms where they worked. A quarantine on pet birds and commercial fowl in a 46,000-square-mile area spanning from Santa Barbara to San Diego cost federal and state agencies more than $151 million but kept the disease contained to Southern California. "That was kind of like a dry run," Corsiglia said. "We never had it up here (in Northern California), which was actually very good because it showed the system really works." Exotic Newcastle lingered for years in California during an outbreak in the 1970s, but the 2002-2003 outbreak was eradicated in less than a year, said Steve Lyle, a spokesman for the California Department of Food and Agriculture. Silva keeps a brown foam chick in the center console of his truck. It’s made for squeezing – a stress-buster. He’s not squeezing yet. Silva has invested $250,000 since 2002 in biosecurity measures. But like many in the industry, he worries that a Chicken Little, sky-is-falling panic may be his business’ worst enemy. "It’s not in the United States. It’s not even close to the United States," he said of bird flu. Tens of thousands of Americans die each year from "regular" flu, Silva said. "And we’re worried about this bird flu?"
Biosecurity’ is buzzword vs. bird flu
Is this really what we (as people) want? Do you think the advertising for poultry products from such places show razor wire, padlocked houses in place like the moon; or chickens pecking around in green open space, with wild birds singing in the trees?
Foster Farms website says: "Foster Farms is absolutely committed to the humane treatment of all animals." – which would seem debatable if run a farm system that’s repulsive to migratory birds. Also, "Foster Farms poultry is always 100% natural with no added hormones or steroids." – again, what does "Natural" mean, when chickens live purely indoors, in controlled artificial environment, no chance of contact with any other wild birds?
Quote:Worsening environmental problems are threatening social stability in China as aggrieved residents resort to protests to make their voices heard, a senior official said this week. Severe pollution prompted at least 510,000 public disputes last year, which "caused a great threat to social stability," said Zhou Shengxian, head of the State Environmental Protection Administration. "Mass incidents," such as protests related to environmental problems, have been rising at an average rate of 29 percent a year, Xinhua News Agency quoted him as saying. "If environmental protection continues to lag behind economic growth, [pollution] will get worse and will be harder to control," Xinhua quoted Mr. Zhou as telling a national conference on environmental protection Wednesday in Beijing. "Local officials … who fail to meet requirements will pay a price for turning a blind eye to the law," Mr. Zhou warned. His remarks highlighted the growing unease felt by senior Chinese officials at increasingly frequent environmental disasters….Environmental woes mar social stability
Is there a minor trend away from the hysteria? Forbes now:
Quote:As the Bush administration puts the final touches on a massive response plan for a potential avian flu pandemic, experts — including top-level administration officials — are predicting that if and when the avian flu reaches American shores, it’s not likely to be the disaster most once feared. "It is impossible to predict whether we’re going to have an H5N1 [the current strain of avian flu] pandemic and, if so, how severe it’s going to be," Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told HealthDay. …That sentiment was echoed by Dr. Julie Gerberding, head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Speaking to attendees at a recent meeting in Tacoma, Wash., she said "there is no evidence it [bird flu] will be the next pandemic." ,,, Dr. Marc Siegel, author of False Alarm: The Truth About the Epidemic of Fear and a clinical associate professor of medicine at New York University School of Medicine in New York City, said, "There’s a complete psychosis here." "The whole problem with the topic is the blurring of the distinction between birds and people. I’d be worried if I was a bird — maybe. But not even all birds should be worried," Siegel said. The current H5N1 virus has generated more fear than normal because of its virulence and ease of transmission among flocks of domestic birds, said Dr. Alan I. Hartstein, professor of clinical medicine at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. …
"Any influenza virus that can cause a pandemic must gain the ability to be easily transmitted from person to person," said Hartstein. "Thus far, the H5N1 viruses do not have this capability and cannot cause a pandemic." …
U.S. Bird Flu Threat May Be Overstated, Experts Say
Interesting re Julie Gerberding. In February last year:
Quote:The nation’s top disease-control official proclaimed in a speech in Washington, DC, today that avian influenza is the single biggest threat the world faces right now, according to wire service reports. Reuters quoted Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as saying, "This is a very ominous situation for the globe" and that it is "the most important threat we are facing right now."http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/influenza/avianflu/news/feb2105gerberding.html Yet by November:
Quote:Right now, the H5N1 avian flu is primarily a problem for birds. It is not a pandemic and there is no evidence at the current time that it will ever be a pandemic but we have to be prepared.MSNBC article on some people saying bird flu fears exaggerated includes:
Quote:Wendy Orent, an anthropologist and author of “Plague: The Mysterious Past and Terrifying Future of the World’s Most Dangerous Disease.”… said public health officials have vastly exaggerated the potential danger of bird flu.Several factors make it unlikely that bird flu will become a dangerous pandemic, Orent said: the virus, H5N1, is still several mutations away from being able to spread easily between people; and the virus generally attaches to the deepest part of the lungs, making it harder to transmit by coughing or breathing.
“We don’t have anything that makes us think this bug will go pandemic,” Orent said.
…
Flu virologist Adolfo Garcia-Sastre, a microbiology professor at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, agrees that all the focus on H5N1 may be unhealthy. As part of the team of scientists who recreated the deadly 1918 flu strain, he’s glad people are paying more attention to flu but thinks the level of worry is a bit too high. If this avian flu doesn’t turn into a pandemic, he wonders, will all these new flu-fighting measures be tossed aside?“Focusing only on H5N1 … I think is a little bit shortsighted,” Garcia-Sastre said.
,,,
Public health officials always have to walk a fine line when sounding the alarm, said risk communications expert Peter Sandman, of Princeton, N.J., a consultant to the World Health Organization and the U.S. Department of Defense. Bird flu is a tough case because it’s both scary and unlikely. People see-saw between overreacting because the potential threat is horrific, and under-reacting because the threat is also unlikely.“When you look at a risk that’s horrific but not likely, it’s hard to know how to think about it,” Sandman said.
Sandman said public health officials need to do a better job of communicating the uncertainty around bird flu — as Fauci seemed to be attempting this week.
“It’s unfair and dishonest to make it sound like we’re sure H5N1 is coming soon and it’s going to kill half the population,” Sandman said. “It’s equally irresponsible to say, because only a hundred people have died, it’s not a biggie. It’s potentially very scary, but potentially is only potentially.”
Mixed messages
Vocabulary is part of the problem, Sandman said. The term “bird flu” is used for the virus that is now killing birds — and has infected nearly 200 people who came into very close contact with birds. And it’s also being used to describe a mutated virus — which hasn’t yet emerged — that would spread easily among humans.Sandman stressed that the current “bird flu” that kills birds is not the same as the potential “bird flu” that could cause a deadly pandemic.
“Chicken isn’t a problem,” he explained. “The big problem is the risk of mutation, at which point I’m at risk from the subway seat you sat on, or the doorknob you pulled open. After the mutation happens we should both be more afraid of doorknobs than chicken. Before the mutation, we shouldn’t be afraid of doorknobs or chickens.”
– on MSNBC, where another article included Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Bethesda, Md. saying:
Quote:You can’t put a quantitative number on what the chance is that this H5N1 is going to be a catastrophe. The complexity of things for this to happen is multifaceted and very complex. [A pandemic] is not necessarily going to be caused by the H5N1 virus. H5N1 may not, in fact, go anywhere and just dead-end itself.Should you fret about bird flu? Experts weigh in
Top scientists help clear up the confusionAnd yes, this is the same Anthony Fauci who last September was quoted in article Government Official Says Bird Flu Spread “A Time Bomb Waiting to Go Off”
Quote:HANOI (AFP) – More than 20 international animal and human health experts are visiting Vietnam this week to help the country move from its bird flu emergency response to long-term control, a UN official said. "The thing Vietnam is pushing for is restructuring its poultry sector, moving live bird markets out of cities, building new facilities and slaughter houses," Fabio Friscia of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation said on Tuesday. .. Around eight million Vietnamese now raise poultry in backyard farms, where the risk of outbreaks is highest, said Friscia, who added that the country plans to reduce the number of such informal farms to five million within a decade. "There is concern for the future of poor backyard farmers and small commercial farmers," said Friscia, the FAO’s bird flu programme officer in Vietnam. "A lot of them will have to leave the sector with significant economic losses. The challenge is to provide these people with alternative livelihood opportunities."Bird flu experts in Vietnam to aid long-term control
Just as actual news on H5N1 rather quieter than of late, as it continues in Mr Neutron role (it really, honestly is the most dangerous disease on earth) comes announcement of made-for-tv movie, Fatal Contact: Bird Flu in America
Quote:Despite the early warning, the H5N1 virus has mutated into a version that can spread from human to human — shown in eye-opening detail whenever the microbes start to permeate the atmosphere – across races, nationalities, genders and ages.:ohmy:
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvg/story?section=primetime&id=4091093– that should be good for the H5N1 profiteers, and others in the Flu Fearmongering community.
Perhaps I should start another site, on scary bird flu, make a bit of dough selling masks, unproven remedies, survival guides etc etc; add some mumbo-jumbo that seems based on religion.
The movie, incidentally, looks rather as a novel I’d vaguely planned, back in the days before came across evolutionary biology and pathogens info, which scuppered my plans I’m afraid.Quote:BEIJING, April 18 (Xinhua) — “We cannot just sit for discussions behind the closed door while the sandy weather has raged outside for more than ten days,” Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao announced at a national conference on environmental protection.“Besides climatic factors, it mirrors the critical environmental situation we are facing,” Wen said of Beijing being enveloped in yellow dust.
While addressing the conference held from Monday to Tuesday, Wen said China should be on high alert to fight against worsening environmental pollution and ecological deterioration in some regions, and environmental protection should be given a higher priority in the drive for national modernization.
The major targets of environmental protection during the recently ended tenth Five-Year Plan (2000-2005) were not achieved as scheduled, and new problems have emerged, he said.
China had set a target of cutting discharges of sulphur dioxideby 10 percent in 2000-2005. It set the same target for reducing emissions of carbon monoxide, but only managed a 2 percent cut, according to the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA).
“Lack of awareness, insufficient planning, and a weak legal framework can be blamed for the severe environmental pollution in the country,” Wen noted.
…
The Premier has set out four priorities for current and future environmental protection. These include strengthening water conservation, controlling atmosphere and soil pollution, enhancingprotection of the national ecology, re-adjusting the economic structure and boosting the environmental technology and protectionindustry.SEPA [Stete Environmental Protection Agency] has reported 45 other pollution accidents in the two and ahalf months after the Songhua River spill last November which had threatened water supplies of four million residents in the city ofHarbin, capital of Northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province.
Another accident listed by the administration was a cadmium spill along the Beijiang River in South China’s Guangdong provincethat also threatened the local drinking and agricultural water supplies.
Other major water pollution incidents included chemical spills along Northeast China’s Hun River, central China’s Hunan’s Xiangjiang River, and a diesel spill along the Yellow River in Henan Province, as well as an oil spill in Ganjiang River in central China’s Jiangxi Province.
Wen ordered local governments on Monday to release information on energy consumption and pollutant emissions every six months, set plans to control emissions and step up environmental assessment of construction projects.
Protective policies on the exploitation of resources should be carried out and legal and supervisory systems established, acknowledged Wen, who also urged localities to allocate more moneyand raise public awareness of environmental protection.
Only cases I’ve seen of people contracting virus thro food have involved raw stuff, eg raw duck’s blood.
If you’re even in a place that has H5N1 in poultry, care may be needed in handling uncooked chicken (or even chickens, if yours is kind of restaurant involved in slaughter, or choosing in markets). Hand washing etc – as advisable anyway, given salmonella etc. But even then, H5N1 appears tough to catch.
Fear of the Flu is major problem. Things have gone overboard.
(Customers should be more worried were they chickens not humans, but the way things are in some quarters you’d think this was human flu, not poultry flu.)OK, so maybe small quantities of the virus can be lethal.
Smog as the real killer idea is laughable. For forums elsewhere if needs be.
Closing this thread.
Martin
Note that Fear of the Flu is major cause of the losses; people not buying chickens, after all the fearmongering
Quote:Sunday, April 16, 2006 (Pataudi): In the aftermath of bird flu, as the poultry industry faces huge losses, it’s the small poultry farmers who have been the worst hit. Over a million farmers across the country have virtually lost their livelihood and have found desperate measures to tide over the crisis as they wait for the government to intervene. Deep in debt, poultry farmer Naresh’s future looks empty. He says he is on the brink of suicide. His small poultry farm in Haryana’s poultry belt, Pataudi, is left without chicken. Before the Avian Flu outbreak little less than two months ago, small farms were bustling with 3,000 to 5,000 chickens. But a few days into the outbreak, chicken prices crashed and Naresh was forced to sell his chicken at a throwaway price. Now, no feed supplier is ready to sell the small poultry farmer chicken feed on credit.No feed means no chicken and no source of income. “I have lost 2,000 chickens and Rs 60,000. We could not repay the feed mill owner’s credit, who can’t give any feed now, and our farm is empty,” said Naresh. Financial package For farmers like Rajesh, no money means no school for his children. With no income he says even relatives are not ready to give him loans for daily needs. "I have three kids, no money for fees, and had to withdraw my son from school, even relatives are not giving us any credit,” said Rajesh. The small farmer is in a real crisis. He says that the government’s financial package has no meaning for him. He says he needs the consumer to restart eating poultry products. The government’s financial package involves reduced interest on bank loans, but 1.1 million small farmers across the country do not take loans. Their business runs purely on credit from the feed supplier and the supplier of chicks.
The feed suppliers say farmers are in no position to repay their credit as sales have dropped, a story that’s echoing in poultry farms in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh as well. “We might have to close the mill this way. There is no one to sell to and so we have not even applied for a loan if the farmer can’t buy it," said Vishal Singh, Feed Mill Owner, Pataudi. Breeder farms The NDTV team also met desperate poultry farmers from Rajasthan who bought feed in return for grain worth Rs 50,000 that will last only a week. "We have no money now, so the grain we grow, we are selling that. We don’t know where this rumour of avian flu came from, we have been destroyed,” said Hakim Singh, another poultry farmer in Rajasthan.
The crisis also trickles down to breeder farms where chickens are reared to provide eggs for hatcheries. The breeder chickens represent the start of the poultry production chain. The poultry farmer cannot afford to buy them, so they have not been fed and hence they don’t lay eggs. For the last seven weeks, the chicken have been fed only five gms of feed instead of the usual 170 gms per day, so that it stops laying eggs. The breeder farmers face losses of Rs 1,80,000 per day as even big hatcheries are no longer buying eggs. With the whole system of credit collapsing, small farmers are now looking towards the government to bail them out. However, the biggest challenge for the poultry industry and the government still remains the consumer, who can make all the difference if they decide eating chicken is safe once again.
Bird Flu: Small poultry farmers severely hit
Just received this news item, inc plans to stop birds breeding in Russia this spring.
Hope those who have blithely blamed wild birds for H5N1 spread will feel proud of playing a role in the witch hunt, and step forward to accept their share of blame for this and other things happening.
http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=6389844&PageNum=0
Russia loses half of farm poultry because of bird flu
14.04.2006, 20.07
???
TAMBOV, April 14 (Itar-Tass) — Russia has lost nearly half of farm poultry because of bird flu, Chief Public Health Official and head of the Federal Consumer Rights and Human Well Being Service Gennady Onishchenko said at a Friday meeting of the Central Federal District Council.“Bird flu has affected nine constituents of the Russian Federation,” Onishchenko said. “Wild birds will fly to Siberia in late April, and a pan-epidemic may spread onto the Urals. The bird flu forecast for the Central Federal District is favorable.”
“We do not expect the infection [in the Central Federation Region} that does not have much places for nesting,” Onishchenko said. “Yet the spring hunting season has been banned, and specialists would try to prevent the nesting.”
Some 150 million doses of bird flu vaccine for the inoculation of domestic birds are being bought from Vladimir and Stavropol factories. The majority of poultry farms of the Central Federal District are not ready for keeping their birds indoors. “This unpreparedness may fully deprive Russia of poultry farms,” Onishchenko said.
– can also see this poultry-farm created virus is doing massive damage to poultry industry. This is part of the real story (for this is bird flu, not human flu).
Thanks for this, tho I’m afraid connections here look v tenuous indeed.
Tehran, say, isn’t so close to rural Turkey. Can’t say a country has smog just coz a city or two have; or should we describe US as blanketed in smog (and wonder re lack of human deaths from bird flu, which of course includes reason that because lack H5N1 there). Or planet earth all smoggy coz a city is?
Many deaths in places free of smog – this disease mainly hits rural people, not surprisingly as a chicken virus.
Here in HK, smog worsening; yet poultry controls slashed virus in chickens, and no locally contracted human deaths since 1997.
China has plenty of very smoggy cities, yet cases largely in rural places.Smog indeed terrible – but it’s not bird flu.
Post edited by: martin, at: 2006/04/14 03:38
European Oil Palm Market Causing Indonesian Rainforest Loss ***********************************************
Rainforest Portal a project of Ecological Internet, Inc. h
Rainforest Portal
Rainforest Newsfeed April 13, 2006 OVERVIEW & COMMENTARY by Dr. Glen Barry, Forests.org Below is an important update on the global campaign to protect Indonesia’s ancient rainforests from unfettered oil palm plantation development. It comes from WALHI (Friends of the Earth Indonesia), an important Indonesian NGO. Their new report importantly links the rapidly expanding European market for oil palm for biofuels (which Ecological Internet was amongst the first to publicize) and other products with wholesale Indonesian rainforest destruction from oil palm plantations. They are demanding – as is Ecological Internet in our recent alert – that the Indonesian government officially cancel the proposed mega oil palm plantation along the Malaysian border that threatens the orangutan and other species with extinction. Earlier loose assurances that the project will not proceed must be followed by formal government statements, and the area given permanent protected status that is enforced. Please continue to take action on this important issue. g.b.
RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE: Title: European hunger for palm oil triggers expansion of plantations Source: Copyright 2006, Friends of the Earth Indonesia (WALHI) Date: April 12, 2006 MEDIA ADVISORY Friends of the Earth Netherlands * Sawit Watch * Friends of the Earth Indonesia (WALHI) * Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland * INDONESIA: EUROPEAN HUNGER FOR PALM OIL AND TIMBER TRIGGERS EXPANSION OF DESTRUCTIVE PALM OIL PLANTATIONS JAKARTA (INDONESIA), LONDON (UK), AMSTERDAM (THE NETHERLANDS), 12 April 2006 — A new report released today shows how the Indonesian government might develop up to 3 million hectares of oil palm plantations on the island of Borneo, threatening wildlife and local livelihoods to cater for international demand for cheap palm oil. [1] One of the justifications given for this huge plantation project is the increasing international demand for palm oil to be used in food, feed and biofuels. The report reveals how earlier plans to develop a 2 million hectare plantation on the Indonesian side of the border with Malaysia, are not yet off the table. Indonesia’s initial proposals to develop the border area had met with international protest. The Indonesian president Yudhoyono acknowledged there were conservation concerns to be taken into account. But the Indonesian Ministry of Public Works appears to have responded to this in January 2006 by simply enlarging the area defined as the "border zone".
In this broader area, up to 3 million hectares of oil palm could be planted, according to the Ministry. The project still threatens mayhem, damaging wildlife and the livelihoods of local people in the Kalimantan region. Friends of the Earth Indonesia (WALHI) and local palm oil organisation Sawit Watch (‘Oilpalm Watch’) are calling on the Indonesian government to officially cancel the border mega-plantation plan. The new report reveals that the area deemed suitable for oil palm includes forests used by thousands of people who depend on them for their livelihoods. In new larger border zone, a special regulation (Presidential Decree No. 36/2005) would allow the government to take land away from communities that do not want oil palm plantations in the name of ‘public interest’.
The report shows that those communities who are aware of the new proposals are strongly opposed to the plans. Evidence shows that in the last decade, many areas have been deforested supposedly to make way for oil palm plantations but have then been abandoned after the timber has been sold. In East Kalimantan alone, 3 million hectares of forest disappeared for oil palm concessions. Of those, only 300.000 hectares have actually been planted with oil palm. Sixty per cent of the forests converted into oil palm plantations in 2004-2005 were still good forests, despite the commitment made by the Indonesian government in 2000 that no more forests would be converted to palm and pulp plantations. "Communities should not be forced to change their livelihoods simply for the benefit of oil palm companies and consumers overseas. They have not been consulted on these proposals and certainly have not agreed to abandon their land," said Rudy Lumuru of Sawit Watch, in the Netherlands to present the report. ‘European importing countries should not increase their imports of palm oil until environmental and social issues are solved,’ added Anne Van Schaik of Friends of the Earth Netherlands. ‘This also means we should be very hesitant to embrace palm oil as a biomass-solution to the current energy crisis. To start with, companies and governments should ensure that palm oil used in food and feedstock is in line with the criteria laid out by the so-called Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil as soon as possible," said Van Schaik. [1] The report "The Kalimantan Border Oil Palm Mega Project" can be downloaded as pdf from http://www.milieudefensie.nl/globalisering and from http://www.foenl.org
, see pg 2847, column 2 PP 2.)