Sunday, March 05, 2006

Deadly avian flu in Poland - official


After weeks of everyone else in Europe detecting the virus in their countries, Poland finally finds two swans to have died from the flu.

Updated 6 March

For many days now I have been sitting in editorial meetings discussing why Italy, France, Germany, Ukraine have found dead birds that had contracted the ‘deadly’ virus but Poland had not.

You would think that a country which has a president with the nickname ‘the Duck’ would be flooded with flocks of the dead birds.

Perhaps the migrating fowl just didn’t trust Poland’s veterinarian services enough, kept flying over Warsaw and touched down in Germany or somewhere with a better funded health system.

But now two swans have been found dead in Copernicus’s city of Torun, not far from the capital (well, not as the rather sickly crow flies). Senior officials told Reuters: "Initial tests confirmed that it is the H5 virus. We don't know yet, however, if it is the deadly (H5N1) kind. More tests will be done in Poland and abroad,"

It has subsequently been confirmed, in record time, that the birds have died from the H5N1 strain.

The testing centre in Pulawy is sending samples to the UK for confirmation.

Cue Polish media panic.

The story is now getting blanket coverage on the TVN 24 hour news station, with speculators speculating and pontificators pontificating on the deadly consequences of anyone happening upon one of these poor creatures.

Expect sales of chicken and other poultry, which are already down by over 20 percent, to plummet faster than a dead parrot not nailed to its perch. In Italy the hysteria has caused sales to fall by around 70 percent.

All very irrational but you can’t blame food shoppers for getting jumpy when the media is in a panic. Oprah Winfrey, the Queen of Daytime Television, has declared that she is going to get an anti-bird flu shot as soon a possible.

What Oprah says on air can be very influential. If she recommends a book on a her Book Club segment sales of that book soar (even if that book turns out to be not quite what it says on the dust jacket). So I imagine millions of Americans switched off their televisions after the announcement and rushed out to see the doctor demanding an injection.

But just how is Oprah, or anyone else for that matter, going to be able to get a shot for a virus that doesn’t even exist yet?

No rational person will worry about the H5N1 strain of bird flu until it somehow mutates into a virus that can be caught from person-to-person.

I feel sorry for the poultry producers who are now facing an irrational consumer boycott of their products. Two hundred million birds have been slaughtered or have died from the disease so far.

Many more are set to go the same way now in Poland.

To try and calm the situation down, and in a show of avian solidarity, Prime Minister Marcinkiewicz was on television this morning saying that he will be having chicken for dinner. So will I.

See H5N1 Bird Flu Confirmed in Poland, Washington Post, March 6
Bird flu spreads to Poland, infects cats in Austria, Swiss Info, March 6
H5N1 in Poland - official, Radio Polonia, March 6

13 comments:

roman said...

I am selling my shares in the Kentucky Fried Chicken chain as soon as the bell rings for business monday AM. This avian flu thing really "fowled" up this investment opportunity.(sorry)
I heard that out of 14 confirmed cases in China, there were 8 deaths. At more than a 50% mortality rate but with so few cases worldwide, the conventional wisdom here is still a cautious wait-and-see. Nothing like the Oprah reaction yet.

Frank Partisan said...

I imagine that chicken is a dietary staple of many in Poland.

michael farris said...

"I imagine that chicken is a dietary staple of many in Poland"

Yeah, I haven't had the courage to try it yet, but I'm told it tastes a lot like iguana ....

Romerican said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Romerican said...

I still buy chicken here in Romania, depsite bird flu being found months ago. I eat eggs as well. How do I manage?

You see, I wash my hands and anything else poultry touches... just like I did before bird flu. I also cook all meat and eggs thoroughly... just as I did before the bird flu. Pretty simple, really.

People panic over anything.

As for Oprah, she never had any principles whatsoever. A glorified Rikki Lake is all. A more civilized Jerry Springer is all. Back in the day, she used to hawk whatever products management told her to. These days, she has a little clout of her own so she gets to participate in the decision making... but don't believe for a second that she makes her own destiny.

No, sir, you have to play along to get by in that industry. And why not pump up the bird flu scare? Why not ring the alarm bells about "getting a shot?"

Donald Rumsfeld and friends will profit incredibly handsomely from Tamiflu sales (although the drug, apparently, isn't even effective).

You can't leave all the death-profiteering to Dick Cheney and his Halliburton / Brown & Root friends. If Dick Cheney gets to make millions from Saddam after the first Iraq invasion *and* make money off Iran during this last Iraq invasion *and* make even more money from the subsequent and ongoing reconstruction of Iraq.... then why cant Donny's cartel make a few bucks?

Afterall, Dick and Don have been steadfast coworkers in presidential administrations for... what, 30 or 40 years now as high level advisors?

Keep those wheels greased! Because the plutocracy keeps right on turning...

beatroot said...

Er...indeed. And there is more of that stuff on Romerican's blog. His last post was about milk bottles. But I don;t think we can blame Rumsfeld for dead swans in Torun.

Chicken tastes like snake, turkey tastes like Iguana.

Anonymous said...

Are you tired of getting nice compliments on your blog, when really you're not makeng the kind of money that you deserve? Now you can join a completely FREE program. FREE to join. All you do is refer customers. To get started fast, click here: business opportunities site. It pretty much covers business opportunities related stuff and it's FREE to join.

Anonymous said...

Dear friend, Here is an opportunity for you that is taking over the internet. The compensation plan is second to none. The spill over will blow your mind and the educational products are of the highest quality. Knowledge is power and nobody can ever take that away from you. Join me in this business and see for yourself what you will be getting. Click here: FREE Information

Anonymous said...

Dear friends, Now you can Fulfill your destiny! LordoftheHits is the lord of all exchanges. One exchange to rule them all!!! Hook up NOW with this exiting program. Click here: FREE INFORMATION

Anonymous said...

WATCH CAREFULLY...Here it is... FREE advertising, FREE download. No cost to you! Get your FREE download NOW! Make money and get FREE advertising! This is a great program for you to take advantage of... Check this out now for FREE!

To find out more visit: Home business site. It successfully exposes FREE information covering traffic and Home business related stuff. Don't forget, FREE, FREE, FREE!!!

Anonymous said...

Dear friends, Now you can help yourself take advantage of the huge frenzy of FREE advertising in your spare time, while in the comfort of your own home. Hook up NOW with this exiting program. Click here: FREE INFORMATION

Anonymous said...

You have an outstanding good and well structured site. I enjoyed browsing through it kitchen cabinets corner Cadillac in houston Players of professional tennis

Anonymous said...

I don't even know how I ended up here, but I thought this post was good. I don't know
who you are but definitely you are going to a famous blogger if you aren't already ;) Cheers!

My web page - no fax payday loan
my web page :: check it out