Job Discussion Forums

[justme]

Panic abounds. My in-laws think all animals carry bird flu and they were hesitant to kill their sheep this year (though they still eat meat). They told us not to get a cat based on this story: A cat in a village ate an infected bird. The cat died of bird flu. A child played with the dead cat and died.

Okay. Yeah. Am I the only one wondering what the hell the child was doing with a dead cat in the first place? Must've been more than poking it with a stick if he died. My neighbors won't buy chicken but they're still putting bread out for wild birds, which poo all over our windowsills.

So along with the panic, gross misinformation seems to abound as well.

So I figured as long as the chicken and eggs are well-cooked, and as long as you wash the poo chunks from the eggs (though it seems they're selling them better-washed than before), it should be okay (though I'm not telling my in-laws we're still eating chicken and eggs).

Then I got to wondering how the other yabancı are looking at this?

[billybuzz]

This is really turning into a farce ,talk about misinformation on a grand scale .
If you come into direct contact with an İNFECTED bird or you inhale its droppings yes I know weird but some people do that or you insist on handling them or kill them without wearing any protective clothing then basically you are asking for trouble especially if you are young ,old infirm or just an unhealthy person ,so don't go near them ok . On the tv we see pictures of kids playing and handling them without any awareness that its a dangerous thing to do, gives a very negative image about Turkey's health education . Buy chicken and eggs that you know is safe is common sense and make sure its well cooked . Now how does that compare on a scale of 1-5 with say sitting in a smoky bar or tea shop or eating place smoky place 5+ avian flu 3 . Taking a ride in a taxi 10

[justme]

That's what I've been thinking-- farce and media-induced BS.

I've also seen on the news guys in full Haz-Mat gear loading dead birds onto a truck, while 20 unprotected kids run along next to the truck going 'yyaaaaaayyyy!!!'

I'm not one for soft boiled eggs, and undercooked chicken is disgusting, so it seems to me, why panic?

Here's one thing I worry about: The time has come to start fertilizing trees and roses and stuff, and they seem to be using chicken poo. Does composting eliminate the virus? I can't help worrying about how well composted it is.

So, no playing in the dirt under trees for awhile. I can live with that.

[yaramaz]

On the train coming back from Sofia on Sunday, we stopped at the Turkish border and an inspector came on board to check bags. My friend and I had filled our bags with Bulgaria's finest cheeses, sausages and wine (which I had been told was acceptable to Turkey even though most countries have rules about such things). However, I became concerned when the Turkish inspector barked at me to empty out the grocery bag of protein products. He looked intensely at the cyrillic labelled sausages for a few minutes before turning to me and asking sternly,
'Are any of these made from chicken?'.
'Of course not', I replied! 'They're pork!'
'Good!'
And he left.

[justme]

[Baba Alex]

I'm not worried about this bird flu....



...I'm a bloke.

bum bum tshhhhhhh

[whynotme]

What I find really strange about this bird flu thing is this silly virus. It only affects the birds and people. what a weird virus it is that it doesn't kill dogs ,cats even mice. I am neither a doctor nor a scientist but I believe there is something wrong with this virus. I try not to eat chicken or egg,i know well cooked chicken is safe but I still don't like the idea of eating a chicken which might have an illness. Anyway there are lots of things for us to eat. Enjoy your life with FISH

Love
Fisherman whynotme

[justme]

[Baba Alex]

[molly farquharson]

this issue has made me think of my organic vegie friends back home who would only eat free-range chickens/eggs. They are the ones who would get bird flu. the chicken and eggs in places like migros are all from chicken/egg factories and they don't get exposed to anything.

Is it true that the govt people are also killing wild birds? isn't it the migrating birds that are spreading this virus?

And, I'm sorry, but i can't be freaking out about something that has killed less than 100 people worldwide. Why isn't there such a big fuss over AIDS?

We have already had a couple of potential teachers decide not to come because of the bird flu. chickens!!!

[Baba Alex]

[justme]

Oh, please!!!

Panic is really annoying. I too wonder why there's such a fuss-- seems to me, unlike AIDS, this virus just flares up and burns itself out.

In fact, I'm not even sure where everyone got the idea you can get it from eating chicken meat and eggs. Okay, eggs I can understand a little because there's often poo on them, but I don't eat them soft boiled or raw anyway.

Unless, of course, they're in the ginger snap cookie dough I made over Bayram. I ate plenty of that.

[Mikana51]

There are at least 3 different sorts of bird flu and all can be contracted from handling infected birds or contaminated surfaces directly --- it's not necessary to inhale bird poo, though if that's what gets you off, go right ahead. All 3 viruses can be low or high pathogenic and can kill humans. The real concern is not so much the viruses as they exist now. WHO and CDC are concerned because the bird viruses are all A type influenza viruses and A types have nasty habit of mutating and turning into something highly contagious. Like some people I know.

As usual, the media is having a whale of a time providing shock, horror disinformation posing as news.

Nothing will keep me from Turkey once I have my TESOL, unless my PhD and years of college teaching scare people off.

[Hog]

The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office is providing regular updates on this. If you are interested you can check this on Avian and Pandemic Flu.
The crux of the matter, as Mikana51 pointed out, is whether or not the virus mutates to permit person to person transmission, in which case there is a danger of a pandemic. If that were to occur then there would be reason for concern.
I do not want to be alarmist but it is worth considering what the potential impact of this might be - according to the FCO:

[dmb]

I just got back from the UK and when I mentioned to people that I live in Turkey the first thing the ask about is Bird flu. Of course it is all the fault of the British over-hyped media.
Anyway it's almost Burn's night and my haggis isn't infected.