Mad Cow, Bird/Swine Flu, Foot and Mouth, E.coli, Salmonella, Ebola, Marburg...

[Diana]

The sheer number of chickens on ONE farm just blows my mind. 35'000 chickens on ONE farm??? And only for the purpose of laying eggs which will be hatched elsewhere to create new chickens? (I swear, the BBC article uses the word "create"!)

I read also that this same strain of bird flu made the Dutch government murder 30 million (!!!!!!) birds in 2003.

And people do not see that this is a HOLOCAUST??????????

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4949026.stm

[eve]

Let's not forget that BILLIONS of chickens are killed routinely 'for the table'.

[Kevster]

'Bird flu confirmed in farm worker

A poultry worker is suffering from conjunctivitis after contracting the H7 strain of bird flu, the Health Protection Agency has confirmed.

The person was infected through close contact with birds at the Witford Lodge Farm in North Tuddenham, Norfolk, which had the disease. [...]'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4956224.stm

[Kevster]

'Chickens at two more British farms are found to have bird flu
By Geoffrey Lean, Environment Editor
Published: 30 April 2006

Britain's defences against bird flu were last night exposed as ineffective, as chickens in two more farms in Norfolk were found to have a strain of the disease. The news came as an Independent on Sunday investigation revealed severe flaws in the Government's surveillance against the infection.

The two new infected farms are in the same area, near Dereham, as Whitford Lodge Farm, Hockering, where 35,000 chickens are being slaughtered after the disease was found there last week. A worker caught a mild form of the bird flu.

Their flocks, with 15,300 more birds, will be culled and a one-kilometre "restrictive zone" - limiting movements of poultry, eggs and poultry products - has been imposed around all three. Yesterday, even before last night's announcement, Japan banned poultry imports from Britain. [...]'

http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article361042.ece

[eve]

Another interesting article by Eve Hillary: http://www.evehillary.org/bird.flu.cashcow.2.htm

[Kevster]

Another reason to trust the Government:

'Discovery of poultry exposed to bird flu virus was kept from public

· Ministry imposed 'routine' movement restrictions
· Curbs lasted until tests on geese ruled out infection

James Meikle
Thursday May 18, 2006
The Guardian

Government scientists found evidence of bird flu in poultry in October but did not report their concerns to the public, the Guardian can reveal. The scientists placed movement restrictions on a bird rescue centre in south-west England after finding evidence that 13 free-range geese had been exposed to an H5 virus, one of two types of virus most likely to become deadly to birds and a group known to be a health risk to people. [...]'

http://society.guardian.co.uk/health/news/0,,1777421,00.html

[ravenfire]

My husband was just talking to his mother the other day saying how he was going to be really pissed off if the pandemic hit simply because people wouldn't stop eating/farming birds and he (a vegan) ended up with it. He asked why, if this is supposed to be such a serious threat, people would continue to consume chicken to which she replied simply "because it tastes good". I guess that's what matters, public health be damned.

[Troub]

the end of humanity will come from their own hands.

people continue to rape this planet to no end, and one day the scales of the balance of life will shift beyond restorative means.

Modern humanity is a parasite to the natural world.



We are no longer stewards to this world, we are vicious tyrants.

[ravenfire]

I agree. Our planet is a living organism and she's only going to take so much abuse before she defends herself. The speech from the Matrix about humans being a virus is so true!

[Spiral]

Possibly the first human to human spread of the disease.


The World Health Organization (WHO) says it is extremely worried about a cluster of recent human deaths from the virulent H5N1 strain of bird flu. Seven people from the same family in northern Sumatra, Indonesia, died from the disease earlier this month. WHO spokesman Peter Cordingley said there was no sign of diseased poultry in the immediate area. Investigators are looking into the possibility that the virus spread from human to human, Mr Cordingley said. But he emphasised that there was no indication the virus had mutated.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/5011210.stm

[eve]

Probably the meat-eating world as it exists now, will end with a pandemic affecting meat eaters. ;)

[Kevster]

'Bird flu deaths spark human infection fear
By Jeremy Laurance, Health Editor
Published: 25 May 2006

Seven out of eight members of the same family who contracted bird flu have died from the disease in what the World Health Organisation describes as the "most worrying incident so far".

It is the largest cluster of human cases of infection with H5N1 since the outbreak began three years ago and scientists have been unable to identify the source.

The seven relatives in northern Sumatra, Indonesia, died earlier this month but extensive tests have failed to turn up any sign of diseased poultry in the area. Scientists are left facing the possibility that the virus passed among the family by human-to-human transmission. [...]'

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_technology/article571672.ece

[veggiewoman]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5082324.stm


Ban call over salmonella findings

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41768000/jpg/_41768050_poultry_afp203b.jpg The Czech Republic had the highest salmonella levels in Europe

A report which revealed more than 50% of poultry farms in some EU countries were contaminated with salmonella has sparked calls for a ban on egg imports.
The leaked study, by the European Food Safety Authority, found 62% of farms in the Czech Republic were contaminated, 55% in Poland and 51% in Spain.
In the UK, almost 12% were found to have salmonella contamination - the third lowest in Europe.
The British Egg Industry Council said eggs below standard should be banned.
In total, 85% of the eggs eaten in Britain are produced on UK farms, the remainder are imported from Europe, according to the council.
It is estimated that the vast majority of these imports come from Spain.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gifhttp://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/start_quote_rb.gif Stringent biosecurity measures ... continue to ensure the highest safety standards for British Lion eggs http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/end_quote_rb.gif


Andrew Joret, British Egg Industry Council


In the UK, vets checked more than 400 UK premises, testing dust, bird faeces and other material, the study said - which was revealed to the BBC's Newsnight programme.
It revealed salmonella contamination in 11.9% of farms with laying hens, with only 8% showing contamination with the most dangerous strain of the bacteria.
According to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, this makes the UK's infection rate the third lowest of all EU member states.
Andrew Joret, deputy chairman of the British Egg Industry Council, called for sub-standard eggs to be banned from British shores.
"We believe that imports of eggs into the UK should be banned unless they have been produced to the standards required by the British Lion scheme, including vaccination of hens against salmonella, a best-before date on every egg and full traceability of eggs, hens and feed," he said.
Mr Joret also said the small number of positive samples put the UK's poultry farms among the best in Europe.
"The stringent biosecurity measures required by the Lion Code of Practice continue to ensure the highest safety standards for British Lion eggs and we are continuing to improve these still further."

Animal Health Minister Ben Bradshaw said the number of reported cases of the disease in humans was at its lowest level since a 1997 peak.
"Recent surveys of UK-produced eggs on sale in shops have shown a significant reduction in the level of contamination compared with previous surveys," he said.

[aubergine]

"UK-produced eggs on sale in shops have shown a significant reduction in the level of contamination"

That's still isn't no contamination...

Funny the ways people will justify things to themselves.

[eve]

The Independent reports that Britain is at risk of an outbreak of the lethal Ebola and Marburg viruses because of the burgeoning trade in illegal bush meat from Africa, a leading public health expert has warned.

Imports of wild meat, including body parts of primates such as gorillas and chimpanzees, have increased dramatically as a result of the commercial hunting of up to 71 species. Last year, there were 25,000 seizures at UK airports, a 62 per cent increase on 2004.

Full report here:
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health_medical/article1095837.ece

[Roxy]

:mad: That article made me so mad! People can be such idiots! Those African bushmeat hunters are just ruining their own country and they don't even care. And the people who buy that meat are just as much to blame.

[kriz]

So sad.:(

[veggiewoman]

What are these people going to do when they havekilled every single on eof these amasing creatures, why do they do this , its heartbreaking.

[Conrad]

from http://www.guardian.co.uk/bse/article/0,,1804539,00.html


Human mad cow epidemic 'could be bigger than feared'

David Batty and agencies
Friday June 23, 2006

Far more people in the UK could be infected with the human form of mad cow disease than originally estimated, scientists warned today.The true prevalence of the condition might not become apparent for decades because variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) probably has a much longer incubation period than originally thought, the researchers said.
The scientists believe the time between infection with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), so-called mad cow disease, and developing vCJD could be more than 50 years. They warned that recent estimates of the size of the vCJD epidemic could be "substantial underestimations".

Exposure to BSE in the UK has been widespread, although just 160 vCJD patients have been identified, leading scientists to investigate why more people have not developed the deadly condition.The study, published in medical journal the Lancet, compared vCJD with a similar disease called kuru. Kuru, which like vCJD is a human prion (microscopic infectious agent) disease, is caused by cannibalism.

It reached epidemic proportions in some Papua New Guinea communities who ate their dead relatives as a mark of respect and mourning until the ritual practice was banned in the 1950s.

In the study, 11 patients with kuru were identified between July 1996 and June 2004. As the latest year of birth recorded for a patient with kuru was 1959, it was assumed that catching the disease through cannibalism would have stopped by 1960.
The scientists worked out that the minimum incubation period of kuru - if taken between 1960 and the date of onset of the disease in patients - ranged from 34 to 41 years. In men, estimated incubation periods ranged from 39 to 56 years and could have been up to seven years longer.

The researchers believe the incubation period for vCJD could be even longer than that for kuru because the infection is transmitted from a different animal - and cross-species infections usually take longer to develop than those within the same species.
The study warned that the full scope of the vCJD epidemic "remains uncertain" and the number of people infected is "still unknown".
"Any belief that vCJD incidence has peaked and that we are now through the worst of this sinister disease must now be treated with extreme scepticism," it said.

Furthermore the researchers, led by Professor John Collinge of University College, London, said some people were more likely to be susceptible to developing the disease. The professor said those vCJD patients already identified "could represent a distinct genetic subpopulation with unusually short incubation periods for BSE."

According to the CJD surveillance unit in Edinburgh, 2,079 suspected cases of all types of CJD have been reported to them since 1990. Of those, 111 were fatal and vCJD was confirmed as the cause of death, while the disease was considered the probable cause of death in a further 45 cases. There are five people in the UK known to be living with vCJD.

[Blueshark]

Blimey. I wonder if it is possible to get a blood test for this?

[DianeVegan]

Sorry Blueshark but at this time there is not a blood test that exists for prions. Final diagnosis of prion disease is usually made after death during brain biopsy. Interestingly, the appearance of Alzheimer patient's brains look very similar to the brains of those who died of prion infection.

[Conrad]

When in doubt, dowse it out.

[Kevster]

'Illegally fed cattle slaughtered

The herd at Mr Podger's farm was removed by government vets
A herd of nearly 70 cows is being slaughtered after a farmer illegally gave them rabbit and guinea pig food containing pulverised cattle bones.
Percy Podger, from the farm in Surrey claims he had no idea the food contained banned bovine material. [...]'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/southern_counties/6268431.stm

[fiamma]

Percy Podger.. now surely that's a made-up name?

[Pob]

'Illegally fed cattle slaughtered

The herd at Mr Podger's farm was removed by government vets
A herd of nearly 70 cows is being slaughtered after a farmer illegally gave them rabbit and guinea pig food containing pulverised cattle bones.
Percy Podger, from the farm in Surrey claims he had no idea the food contained banned bovine material. [...]'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/southern_counties/6268431.stmWhy does rabbit and guinea pig food contain cattle bones? They're herbivores, ffs!:mad: