AR-News: (Asia) From chickens to pigs to humans?

[Animalara2003 at aol.com]

Infected pigs could act as 'mixing vessels' for emergence of new and virulent 
strains, WHO adviser warns 
BANGKOK - As millions of chickens are culled across Asia in a bid to stem the 
spread of bird flu, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that pigs 
could also carry the virus.

KFC switches to fish meals
HANOI - American fast-food chain KFC, formerly Kentucky Fried Chicken, is 
offering fish instead of chicken on its menu in Vietnam.
The chain's eight restaurants will temporarily replace chicken dishes with 
fish, said KFC Vietnam general manager Pornchai Thuratum. He added that KFC's 
sales had dropped by 30 per cent because of the bird flu scare.
Health officials say the bird flu virus is transmitted through contact with 
infected poultry and that properly cooked meat and eggs are safe to eat.
Still, many restaurants in Vietnam's larger cities have taken chicken off the 
menu since the flu outbreak was reported in late December.
In Singapore, KFC has been running advertisements to assure its customers 
that its chicken products are safe to eat. -- AP, Reuters 

Farm pigs could contract avian influenza from infected fowl or birds and, 
because the animals are also susceptible to mammalian viruses, they could act as 
'mixing vessels' to produce entirely new and virulent strains.
These flu strains, in turn, could be passed to humans.
Pigs in China had contracted the bird flu virus from infected birds that 
entered their pens, a WHO adviser told a forum at Bangkok's Siriraj Hospital on 
Monday.
Emeritus Professor Dr Prasert Thongcharoen said suspected cases of pigs 
contracting the virus the same way had also been reported in Hong Kong.



 



full story:
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/asia/story/0,4386,232104,00.html



"The world is a dangerous place,
not because of those who do evil,
but because of those who look on and do nothing.",
Albert Einstein

          /\  /\            
>' .' < 












    
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.envirolink.org/pipermail/ar-news/attachments/20040128/c9971aa2/attachment.html