Bird Flu

this one is a quickie..

Much like NYC during terrorist season, Asia seems similarly paranoid about the Avian Flu.

Daily reports on the news either talk about individuals quarantined after eating an infected bird, dead birds testing positive, and dead birds found taking an hour for its removal from a local park. Signs on the street and parks warn you not to touch bird shit, feed birds or get close to them and announcements on the subway tell you to wear a mask if you are exhibiting flu symptoms.

A series of rather cheerful and comical commercials were issued by the Health Council of HK enforcing rules and precautions - the commercial showed families enthusiastically washing their hands, wearing masks, and staying away from live poultry.

It is not uncommon to see people covering their face on the street or openly wearing masks in public, which in North America would seem rather suspicious. It has become almost a fashion accessory.

I saw one particular western traveler wearing rubber gloves, a mask, and covering his mouth with one hand and clutching his briefcase in the other.. obviously paranoia. In reality only a small number of people have died from the flu.

Not quite as bad as my experience in Toronto during SARS, when I also happened to be sick with the common cold. People were running from me in every direction.

Often in times like this, it is hard to see how serious the situation really is when everyone is talking about it. The virus hasn't developed into a form that can be easily passed-on amongst humans, and they don't know when and IF it will.

The global strategy has been to avoid the spread of the flu by quarantining individuals, and lessening human contact with birds.

**update: the HK government has banned the owning of any poultry livestock and have begun confiscating birds particularly backyard bred chicken even pets to avoid the spread from bird to human. There have been cases of bird flu, however, in individuals who have had no contact with birds.