Beth Salerno

Bird Flu

April 21, 2008 Author: Beth Salerno

This is a “just in case you were worried” public service announcement.

Bird flu is spreading rapidly among poulty in South Korea at the moment.  The latest outbreak is in my town, on an isolated chicken farm.  The national alert level has been upgraded from yellow (alert) to orange (alarm) and all poulty within three miles of an infected farm is being slaughtered by members of the Korean army.

While the strain of bird flu is the most virulent, and the only one known to infect humans, there is extremely low risk of anything happening to me.  You really need to be a chicken farmer to be at risk.  There is a poultry farm on my daily walk, but I am avoiding it.  It does not have any birds at the moment.  I am avoiding all food with raw eggs, and ensuring that any eggs I do eat are cooked to over 164 degrees F, the temperature that kills the bacteria.  This is also true for chicken.  I am also, just in case, avoiding all the cats in my neighborhood, since they eat raw birds when they can get them and can be a disease carrier.

We now return you to your previously scheduled activities, hopefully without worry.

Entry Filed under: Food, Announcements