| Submit your comments on this article |
| Science & Technology |
| Dogs killed in bird flu alert |
| 2006-11-28 |
| Having killed millions of chickens and geese, the bird flu epidemic is claiming the lives of dogs and cats that are being slaughtered in South Korea to contain the virus. Health officials in the town of Iksan, 250km (155 miles) south of the capital, Seoul, intend to kill 577 dogs and an unspecified number of cats after an outbreak of the H5N1 strain of avian influenza among farm chickens. A total of 236,000 chickens and 6 million eggs will also be destroyed, adding to the 96,000 birds that have already been culled. At least 153 people have died of the H5N1 virus in ten countries since it was first detected among chickens in 2003. Virtually all those infected contracted the illness from the feathers or faeces of birds. It is feared that the virus will mutate into a form which can be passed from person to person, creating a global pandemic. Some health experts believe that the killing of dogs and cats is unnecessary and will not impede the disease. “It is highly unusual, and it is not a science-based decision,” said Peter Roeder, of the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation. “We’ve got absolutely no reason to believe they are important.” A zoo in Thailand lost tigers and snow leopards to the disease three years ago after they had eaten chickens infected with H5N1. The virus has been detected among pet cats in Europe. “Other countries do it,” said Kim Chang Sup, of the South Korean Health Ministry. “They just don’t talk about it. All mammals are potentially subject to the virus and South Korea is just trying to take all possible precautionary measures.” Most of those who have died from H5N1 have been in South-east Asia, especially Indonesia and Vietnam. Nearly all the infections have occurred in people who lived on farms or villages in close daily proximity to chickens or ducks. A mutation of a virus is believed to have created the Spanish flu, which killed between 20 million and 100 million people across the world in 1918 and 1919. Humanto-human infections may have occurred during outbreaks of bird flu in Hong Kong and Europe in 1997, which remained under control. 258 Confirmed cases of bird flu in humans; 153 deaths. While there have been both canine and feline H5N1 fatalities, the actual threat is indeterminate. Both can catch the disease from eating birds, but it is unknown if they can spread the disease among themselves. Finally, though there is no known case of direct feline-to-human flu transmission, it is strongly possible that they could spread the disease through direct contact or their feces. There are also rare instances of canine-to-human transmission. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #11 Planet of the Apes. |
| Posted by: anonymous2u 2006-11-28 22:46 |
| #10 The key word in this is "mutate" - a sudden change in the behavior of the virus so that it more easily goes from animal to human, and then from human to human. Could happen at any time. The threat is indeterminate because the flu virus can suddenly change character, and this won't be known until after it happens. Killing off animals in an area of infection is kind of like spraying for mosquitoes. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2006-11-28 19:48 |
| #9 Ironically, avian flu is one of the few things that terrifies the Norks. They have actually cooperated with the WHO to an amazing extent, which says to me that one of Kim Jong Il's physicians must have scared the piss out of him. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2006-11-28 19:29 |
| #8 are they going to ship the corpses north? |
| Posted by: pihkalbadger 2006-11-28 18:15 |
| #7 Kagogi by any other means. Pets are a luxury and rarity in Korea. The only cat I recall seeing was living on Camp Casey, American military compound. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2006-11-28 17:27 |
| #6 Nah, they're just gearing up for a big ol' dogmeat BBQ. |
| Posted by: Swamp Blondie 2006-11-28 17:10 |
| #5 The S Kors seem to have a thing about this type of activity. It's not the first time. They're very good at killing dogs and cats. How about they try the NKors? |
| Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2006-11-28 16:58 |
| #4 There are all sorts of problems associated with animal vectors. If they can transmit to humans, but only have a mild case themselves, they are extremely dangerous. The more species that are involved, the greater the risk. There is even a suggestion that some fish may be a vector, back and forth with birds. And even if it never becomes H2H, the disease could wipe out a lot of the world's farm animals. So intense interest in how it effects dogs, cats, cows, pigs, sheep, horses, rodents, and ferrets are a high priority. I mention ferrets, because in this case, their immune system is very close to the human. Ferrets are the canary in the coal mine. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2006-11-28 15:51 |
| #3 This is why I never tongue kiss my dog. My dog uses the cat box as a snack bar! Hey! Saves having to empty, too often. |
| Posted by: Mick Dundee 2006-11-28 13:43 |
| #2 This is why I never tongue kiss my dog. Hey, I posted a video about that (sort of)! (Not really SFW, I report, you decide). |
| Posted by: anonymous5089 2006-11-28 13:16 |
| #1 This is why I never tongue kiss my dog. |
| Posted by: wxjames 2006-11-28 13:11 |