Avian Flu: Don't Blame on Wild Birds

The pandemic that rocked the entire Asia and the economy of US and the European Union has led to mass culling of more than 50 million of wild birds.  The virus has already caused death to more than fifty poultry farm workers.

The H5N1 virus, belonging to the group of influenza A virus, which is common among birds, is culpable of poultry's death across the world. The main reservoir of influenza A viruses in nature is migrant birds such as ducks, geese, gulls and sandpipers (woodcocks). Both viruses and their hosts (birds) are well-adapted to coexistence.

Interestingly, people have never been infected anywhere by wild birds, which that confirms that attempts to solve the problem via general wild birds' extermination are not justified. However, such extermination has already started in some areas. Experts in the nature and health sphere including the World Health Organization (WHO), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and World Veterinary Association agree in opinion that wild birds' extermination may not be effective to stop spread of disease.

Viruses do no serious harm to hosts, and birds have developed strong immunity in the course of lengthy joined evolution. Poultry is quite another matter. Being taken out of natural selection influence, which clears populations from poor health individuals, poultry is genetically impaired due to kindred crossing and is forced to live unnaturally densely, they lost immunity and became a fertile field for epizooty.

Along with that, viruses are also evolving, more and more new cultures are arising, one of them being - H5N1, which is highly pathogenic. For the first time, it was registered in 2001, it was educed from ducks' fowl imported from China to North Korea. Now, it has also been discovered in several regions in Russia and European nations.
 
Virus advancement can be stopped by focussing resources primarily on those kinds of activity and in those regions where people, domestic animals and nature are in close contact. The most effective way would be if industrial poultry farming succeeded in eliminating possibility of contact between domestic and wild birds.

If the disease outbreaks, sick poultry should be promptly and completely destroyed. Besides, game bird markets and poultry transportation should be strictly controlled. "These measures should be broadly introduced everywhere. The countries where avian flu has not been recorded yet should ban importing poultry, wild birds for keeping them in captivity, and unprocessed poultry production too.

October 16, 2005