usenetposts
26.02.06, 15:24
I have noticed that every country in this part of Europe has, if you'll
pardeon the pun, "coughed" to possessing bird flu except for two countries
which are bang on the flight path between all the other countries that admit
to having it, and those two countries are Poland and Belarus.
Is Poland now in competition with Belarus to see who can withhold vital
information from the public the longest, or is this country really being
miraculously protected, along with Belarus, from the invasion of the H5N1
virus?
Or could it be that whereas every other country sent their samples to the UK
to get them checked in some fancy world-leading lab that Tony's junta managed
to rustle together, Poland just sends them off to the same local labs that
oddly fail to find any bacteria in our phlegm samples while we are nearly
dying of acute bronchitis? (yes yes, I had that happen once). "If those
Angols can do it, we can do it better!".
In any event, I for one do not believe for one instant that this country is
free of bird flu. And right over Warsaw you often get huge flocks of rooks
coming from the other countries. I would seriously advise people to avoid
contact with birds, and to keep domestoc flocks absolutely caged in, also
caged in well enough that little jenny wren cannot fly in and out. The turkey
flock which had to be slaughtered in France this week was claimed to have
been kept indoors - so assuming the owner wasn't lying to save his ass
(although I didn't hear of any asinine mutations of this virus yet)we have to
assume that the virus flew in to them through a small opening. Please check
your hencoops and turkey sheds for any ways that small passerines could fly
in - as they tend to do as they like to share the food, especially at this
time of year.
Leave any caged birds indoors this summer - don't put your parrot cage out on
the balcony to get somne sun until this has all blown over.
Take care when feeding ducks and swans. Don't hand feed them, don't let them
surround you. Keep your eyes on them. If magpies steal your glistening
trinkets, don't go climbing up to the nest to get them back - you might get
more than you bargained for. If birds poo on your car, don't try to wash it
off with a hanky and a bit of spit, but go straight to a proper mechanical
car wash.
Do not approach any dead birds, and make sure that you take seriously any
control procedures by the government such as driving and walking through
disinfectants, washing your hands after handling birds, etc, if you go onto
farmland. Try to avoid contact with birds if you can.
Hopefully by sticking to this sound and practical advice, you can reduce the
risk to yourselves and your families.