8 Replies to “Bird flu – a few more cases”

  1. There was an interesting edition of ‘The Life Scientific’ about influenza on 30 January featuring Wendy Barclay. The virus reservoir appears to be poultry flocks in China. A bit like badgers and bovine TB, wild animals are being blamed for a problem arising from animal husbandry.

    1. Lyn,you would find it impossible to explain how BTB is a result of a problem of animal husbandry.
      By the way in general farmers just think there is a link of BTB and Badgers which is obviously true it is however much more likely that conservationists have a angle to pursue and so peddle this point that farmers blame wild animals.Just something that some want to pursue for whatever reason.
      Funny part is there would be a lot of sympathy for owners if 30,000 plus cats or dogs were infected instead of cattle.

  3. I recall in the last but one ‘outbreak’ the New Scientist magazine adopted a pretty hysterical editorial viewpoint pretty much pointing the finger at ‘wild birds’ as the primary vector. They pointed out the outbreak in Nigeria ,citing that Palearctic wildfowl winter in sub-Saharan Africa, but failed to mention the consignment of 3,000,000 day old chicks that arrived in the country from China, only a week earlier. I wrote to the editor a few times and suggested that the journalist responsible must have been frightened by a budgie in her early life. They did not reply or change their standpoint, so I cancelled my subscription after over 20 years because of the lack of scientific rigour in dealing with it.

  4. Excuse my ignorance, but can someone enlighten me about why all the Mute Swans? Is it simply because they are so conspicuous i.e.sampling bias? Or more likely to interact with domestic fowl? Or just a bit wimpy? Thanks.

    1. michael – all of the above perhaps. The Dorset ones were at the Abbotsbury swannery but that doesn’t explain the rest.

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