Bird Flu:  What do you think?

February 4th, 2007

06/02/2007 Update: The EAARC (East Anglian Animal Rights Coalition) has informed me that the information below is incorrect. The 160,000 turkeys are actually contained on one farm, and not in one factory as stated.

For anyone that doesn’t know already, a quick recap: Britain has been hit again with “Bird Flu” (HN51 Avian Influenza), this time at the mass producing turkey farm owned by “Bernard Matthews”.

I first saw the story on BBC TV on a break while I was at work, but didn’t really think about it too much until today, when I read about it in this article and also in this one

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I’m passionate about things like mass-farming, and in particular animals that never see the light of day.

The worst examples are chickens and turkeys that are crammed into small spaces where they can barely stand, and injected with all kinds of chemicals to make them grow bigger and therefore raise more money. In a situation such as this one, a disease could surely spread from one bird to another very fast indeed.

I’m interested to know what everyone else thinks to this. Is this outbreak partially the fault of Bernard Matthews? Or is it simply a natural occurrence whereby no blame whatsoever lies with them?

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31 Responses to “Bird Flu: What do you think?”

  1. neil Says:

    I was listening to a program on the radio about this and it was pointed out that the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 which killed more people than died in WW1, was in fact originally a bird virus. I can’t say for sure, but back then I wouldn’t think that intensive rearing of chickens would have been the norm. I can’t say yhat I agree with intensive factory farming, but a sick chicken is a sick chicken regardless of how it is raised, though surely it’s easier to deal with factory chickens and the virus less likely to spread from them, being contained and all. A few months ago a Canadian blogger told me that a law had been passed making it illegal to raise chickens outdoors because of bird flu.

  2. Ed Says:

    Bernard Matthews – it couldn’t have happened to a nicer bloke. I problem is intensive farming which magnifies the effect of an epidemic. I’m against this whole intensive thing but there again is there enough meat at a reasonable price to go around without it. DIn Australia we are quite lucky in that our beef and sheep range widely in spacious fields. I believe it is our pigs and poultry that suffer. I suppose I’m lucky as i can afford the pricey organic stuff but many people can’t and unfortunately it is those people who are sucked-in by Turkey Twizzlers.

  3. scott Says:

    neil and ed: It’s a debate that could run and run, isn’t it? Something more to think about:

    When a bird in the wild catches a disease, the bird will fly a little, and die - maybe not coming into contact with other birds. When a farmed bird dies, its carcass is in the midst of thousands of other birds, who have no choice but to catch the disease…

    Another one…There is a chicken farm 5 miles from my house. A chicken I buy from the supermarket however, comes from a farm anywhere in the country, which has travelled via a distribution centre. Even a farmed chicken carcass does not stay local, whereas a wild one would.

    Great points to think about, and I can see both sides of the argument. I’m keeping an open mind, and I’m interested to hear from others, too.

  4. Lil Says:

    For a bird to catch influenza, the odd of happening is there. Virus mutates continuously, as befit the principle of “the survival of the fittest”. It’s nature. But with such density in a single area, it’s inevitable too that it’s going to spread all that more rapidly.

    Now, a small digression. While disease is something that occurs naturally, the widespread misuse of antibiotics is leading to disease resistance, which is becoming more of an issue too. With all living thing where mutations are taking place, gene jumping is another possibility. I fear the weather may also play a role, where certain conditions which used to render the spread difficult has now altered and may facilitate disease transmission (but this is speculation, still under study).

  5. scott Says:

    Lil: All valid points. Bacteria is always one step ahead of us and always will be. It’s been stated on TV that this particular spread can be traced a stage back to turkeys recently imported from Hungary.

    Why in this day in age are we transporting turkeys overseas when we have them (thousands and thousands of them) living and breeding in farms across the UK?

  6. mrbunsrocks Says:

    I am SO with you on the factory farming issue.

    I’m so disgusted by the profiteering efforts of the entire industry….no matter what people choose to eat, I don’t get how anyone could agree with living creatures being subjected to such inhumane, disgusting conditions.

    I did a lot of reading last month when I did a “vegan week” experiment for my blog, and I tell ya, it has completely changed my way of grocery shopping. No more meat at big box stores.

    Anyway, thanks for posting this. :)

  7. scott Says:

    mrbunsrocks: Unfortunately, despite people generally saying they disagree with this type of treatment, the very fact they buy the produce endorses it.

  8. bazu Says:

    Factory farming has created such a host of ills (from animal welfare to degradation of the environment, to loss of farms, loss of biodiversity, decrease in health, in flavor, in traditions, I could go on an on!) and I honestly believe that it has created conditions that would contribute to the spread of bird flu and other diseases. I wish more people in affluent societies would think critically about where their food came from and try to change things.
    Sorry for the rant, this topic has been on my mind a lot lately!

    Thank you for visiting my blog- it was nice ‘meeting’ you through behind the apron, too!

  9. Ed Says:

    I suppose one problem is the obession with huge slabs of meat in the west. I find in Asia although meat is widely availa