Closing China's Poultry Markets Best Way to Stop Bird Flu Pandemic (?)

This message is all over the news - and it's pure bull puckey. H5N1 bird flu (for example) is endemic in Asia - it's in birds, animals, soil, water, flies and gawdknows what else - it's genetically closer to spreading human-to-human than H7N9, and way worse too. Fact is, there are lots of seriously deadly diseases in our world that can jump from animals to humans. A recently discovered SARS-like virus doesn't even need an intermediary host.

…a SARS-like virus remains loose in the wild and could potentially spark another outbreak.

"It changes the equation" for public health, said Peter Daszak, a senior author of the study and president of EcoHealth Alliance, a group involved in conservation and global health. "We can close all the markets in China and still have a pandemic."

Like the man said, "We can close all the markets in China and still have a pandemic."

Closing China's live poultry markets is NOT about preventing pandemics and protecting public health - it's about market share. Live market closures will just destroy China's home-based poultry industry, and pave the way for global corporations to take over China's billion-dollar poultry market. Right now, things aren't working so well for the Big Boyz in China. They need a little help.

Price war between foreign fast food chains benefits Xiamen customers

In China, sales of foreign fast food are continuing to slow. McDonald's has recently seen regional sales decrease, while KFC is doing even worse, with sales continuing to tank despite the brand weathering a hormone scandal a year ago and the recent H7N9 bird flu scare.

Meanwhile, Chinese fast food brands appear to be closing the gap. More local names like Bruce Lee-branded Kung Fu Catering are winning the stomachs of Chinese eaters.

So let's get real. Closing China's live poultry markets won't stop diseases and pandemics. Unless we're ready to build bubbles for all our food animals, construct mega-greenhouses for all our plant foods -and live in bubbles ourselves- we'd best find another way to look at our world and its diseases. Any "strategy" based on total isolation and warring with nature just does not work.



SOURCE ARTICLE and MORE BULL PUCKEY:

Poultry market closures best way to slow spread of H7N9

A group of Hong Kong and mainland researchers have concluded that closing live poultry markets all but eliminates the risk of human infection from H7N9 and is the most effective measure to control the deadly bird flu.

China: Closing live poultry markets helps control bird flu
Poultry market closures best way to slow spread of H7N9
Poultry market closures prevented spread of H7N9
Poultry Market Closures Could Reduce Human Risk Of Bird Flu By 97%
Clos ing Chinese Poultry Markets Stalled Bird Flu's Spread to People
China poultry markets closure helps curtail bird flu spread

reply to post by soficrow

I don't know who's calling for these closures but it shows they don't have a clue about the spread of this virus. Either that or they are vying for control of the business and seek to undermine their competition.

Bird factories in China aren't as automated as ours in the states. Many more workers have much closer, unprotected contact with birds, blood and feathers than their counterparts in the West. This allows the virus to spread to the workers and anyone they have close contact with like family and friends. The disease has not mutated to that magic bullet where it will spread in a pandemic… yet.

More local names like Bruce Lee-branded Kung Fu Catering are winning the stomachs of Chinese eaters.

I like that. Of course they would choose one of their own to represent them. Who would you pick?

Ronald is an imaginary clown.

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Safer food handling practices seems more reasonable than taking a giant food and income source out of the equation. It can happen anywhere where close contact and confined conditions are the norm. Help them with those things instead.

Stop the spread of flu vs many people starving to death from malnutrition and chaos.

Yup, stopping the sale of chicken will definitely help reduce the population faster. Great idea

reply to post by Dianec

Safer food handling practices seems more reasonable than taking a giant food and income source out of the equation. It can happen anywhere where close contact and confined conditions are the norm. Help them with those things instead.

Watcha gonna do about soil and water contaminated with diseases that end up inside your food? Or diseased wild birds and animals that poop and pee on your garden? ...and what about the tomatoes and corn and greens that assimilate new diseases into their leaves, stems and fruit?

I'm not being facetious. This IS the reality. Food corporations are held to "safe handling" standards that they want imposed on everyone, not just China's poultry industry. ...My OP says:

Unless we're ready to build bubbles for all our food animals, construct mega-greenhouses for all our plant foods -and live in bubbles ourselves- we'd best find another way to look at our world and its diseases. Any "strategy" based on total isolation and warring with nature just does not work.

So what's the answer? Let Big Food Biz sell us unregulated contaminated food? Force everyone to follow the same regulations corporations do? Rethink our idea of disease?

reply to post by intrptr

I don't know who's calling for these closures but it shows they don't have a clue about the spread of this virus. Either that or they are vying for control of the business and seek to undermine their competition.

You got it!

From a spring thread:

I was discussing some H7N9 bird flu mysteries with a contact yesterday:
* Only 10 of the 77 cases as of Tuesday had contact with poultry
* Virologist Fouchier says H7N9 is NOT a bird flu
* Chickens and birds do NOT get sick from this flu

...* Was H7N9 genetically engineered and released on purpose? Is it all about killing the competition and grabbing market share? ...